I own a canned gallon of cheese...

For many reasons, when my kids asked me to do a carnival for their birthday party, I wanted to say no. But I conceded... understanding that the this birthday party may very well be the last one they have together. As Alex turns into his teen years, I do not picture him wanting many more birthday parties with his baby sister... and even more, with Cyan being the girly girl she has become, I can't picture her going with the gender neutral thing for much longer. So in honor of that realisation, I have pulled myself out of my comfort zone and decided that I will do the carnival party.

All know what a food person I am. And I am pretty dedicated to good, local, and organic food. Not to the exclusion of fun or nutrition, but I am pretty darned dedicated. Yes, there is pretty much NO way to have a carnival without the junk food. So the title to this post: "I own a canned gallon of cheese." is not only accurate, but it is probably the ONLY time in my life where I will be able to say such a thing. LOL! I say it loud and proud as well.

This party was MUCH harder for me to plan than all of the past parties because there is no crunchy, natural spin on a backyard carnival. I mean, I guess I could have, but that would have been reinventing the wheel. lol... So I conformed. I have cheese food and chips, burgers, Carmel corn with hot peanuts, licorice whips, suckers, push pop ice cream, and a cake in the shape of a roller coaster. I made tickets (above) for the invitations, and we have a stamp that says "admitted" for when the come through the gate, which will be covered with balloons in an arc over the top and have a little red table with a 'ticket counter' where my happy children will be sitting to welcome their guests.

The whole thing is serving up to be a TON of fun. Which I knew it would be... but the planning took me completely out of my comfort zone. I have planned carnival games... I even have a tattoo artist (temporary, of course).

I can't wait to take pictures and share with all the completely non-organic, fun day I have planned. Two more days. :)