Party!

Some shots from Clay's 10th birthday party! Clay choose to have his party at one of his favorite parks. Part of the park sits in a small valley with steep slopes on either side. One side has a slide built into the hill. We brought big sheets of cardboard and our plastic sleds and the kids had a great time.

Got to hang out and relax with some of my favorite folks
I made Clay a cheesecake and a keylime pie. The cheesecake had an oreo crust and M&M and fresh-picked strawberries to spoon on each piece. I did end up making a second cheesecake (the one pictured) since the first was so ugly. Now it's taunting me from my refrigerator! So delicious!!
Legos, DS Games & Teck Decks (who woulda guessed? :)

Goes to show that you don't have to spend big bucks to have a fun party! Menu consisted of: homemade bread, cheese slices, carrots sticks, young peas from garden, sun chips (oh, i'm a sucker for supporting compostable bags... okay, they're yummy too :), and halved bananas (from the disounted produce bags). To drink was soda cans (this is something we only get for REALLY special occassions, got 2 12-packs, which of course what not enough for everyone to drink soda the whole time, which was okay with me!). Also had out home-made lemonade (lemon juic.e, sugar & water), and a water cooler. Both cake & pie were homemade. Paper cups from a yard sale. Favor bags were hand-painted brown paper lunch bags. They were filled with fireworks, some party straws from a yard sale, some happy meal toys from the thrift store, and some mini-size playdo from a thrift store. This party probably cost under $40, with a bunch of happy kids!