Birthday Girl Turns 6...on a budget

This month our daughter is celebrating her 6th birthday. Granted, birthdays are a huge deal for kids and some parents. For us, we really cannot afford to celebrate it at Chuck E Cheese, Pump it Up, or any party planning place. So what does our family do? We went to the park.

Have to have cupcakes to celebrate!

Not only did the kids get a workout on the playground equipment, I brought along Capri Suns (back of the pantry), bottled water, goldfish, snap peas, carrots, and craisins.

Does anyone look like they are having a horrible time? Not after homemade cupcakes ;)

Not only does this help your local park, but it helps your local economy too. What a way to celebrate a kid's birthday! Even the parents were excited about the beautiful weather and getting their kids outdoors to run around. The girls ran around playing freeze tag while the boys played on the equipment.

The only downside is parents want to drop off their kids...with only two adults there. Watching them is okay, it's the getting hurt part I worried about. Most parents were okay with this. Or maybe they can trust me since I volunteer in my daughter's classroom.

Financially, how did we do? The only thing I bought extra were the things I did not have which was... surprisingly nothing. I could have sent party favors home, but you know what? We didn't have the extra money. So I used what I had and there were no sad kids there. They got veggies and crackers, a small drink, and a cupcake. See- no big, lavish, expensive party for 2 hours. $10 to rent the shelter (I think) and basic snack foods with cupcakes. Win-win for everyone!

I put "Gifts Optional" on her birthday invites- she got so many gifts!