Parties to remember

DS2 made a Hickory Dickory Dock cake. It was my job to go out and find a supply of chocolate mice. A well-known chocolate shop duly obliged. DS2 enjoys making themed cakes, the latest being a Titanic one, with the ship half sunk and an ice berg in the offing. When my DSs were early teens, they demanded Black Forest gateau for their birthdays - made by me. I haven't made one since. Am out of practice in cake baking.

vampirequeen I made a fairy castle cake with lacy golden doilies on top of the turrets as well. I think I made the towers by baking the cake mixture in washed-out baked bean and tomato tins and the battlements by cutting bars of nougat into crenellations. The whole thing was very pink and only girls were invited to that party. Happily, I didn't set light to it. I also made a roundabout cake with marzipan animals and a hickory dickory dock cake – everyone wanted the marzipan mouse. Absentdaughter remembers all her birthday parties, including the one on Guy Fawkes' night that went on and on and on because I had been a bit OTT with the fireworks and the teddy bears' picnic when we turned the back sitting room into a magic woodland glade with greengrocer's grass and a lollipop tree. Happy days. [wistful smile emoticon]

Worst party ever was DS's 8th. We had just moved house and had a huge completely untamed garden. The idea was to turn them all outside to run wild and then have a barbercue. But the heavens opened and it tipped down solidly all day so they were all inside and party games, hastily thought up, did not interest them, as for the barbercue cooked on the gas stove!! I swore that that was the end of parties where he was concerned after that it was
four friends and an outing

Most fun was DD's 16th. She decided to have a 1920s style cocktail party. this meant early evening 6.00 - 8.00pm and everybody dressed in period, we researched and made lots of canapes and sourced the right music. DH used to travel to France a lot by car so he brought back a whole range of fruit syrups and non-alcohol drinks not then known of or seen in the Uk (it was in the mid 1980s) and DH and I made lots of colourful cocktails with umbrellas and fruit decorations. We put a teaspoon or two of wine in each glass and made sure wine bottles were visible and they had a wonderful time and thought they were so grown up and sophisticated with these grown up cocktails. I doubt you could do it now.

My DiL is a teacher in a big comprehensive. For my GS's 7th birthday, she held a gym party and got two PE teachers to run it in the school gym. They had a fabulous time, using all sorts of equipment, having competitions and games, then my DS provided a big tea, DiL took them for a run round the field and they all came back for cake. Most entertaining!

Oh dear! When I saw this thread my mind didn't turn to children's parties at all. Just as well I read the posts before descending into 60s nostalgia and yearning for...stuff.

When my eldest was 5 he invited his school friends to the party no girls allowed! We had a large garden but things started getting a bit out of hand so DH offered to take them all for a walk. We had a wooded area at the end of the garden which led to allotments and on to a graveyard. I was a bit dubious as I watched them all march off behind DH but I needn't have worried they had a fabulous adventure and all went home muddy and worn out, as was DH.

The following year we did a similar thing, everyone wore their scruff and wellies. All tucked in to homemade burger and chips served in takeaway trays and then it was let the adventure begin.

I remember having a Halloween party and eldest son now 7 wanted to be a mummy. I remember wrapping him in yards and yards of white toilet paper he thought it was brilliant until the paper started to disintergrate and his little white undies were revealed.

Happy times

vq

We had one, in a hall, when the boys were 4 and 6 and they each invited everyone in their class - about 40 children altogether. We booked a magician to perform for 2 hours with a gap for tea half way through. All went well except the children bolted the food, the magician finished his second hour and went, and there was still half an hour until the parents arrived! Being innocent, we had not thought of that complication so had nothing else with us to keep them occupied and they just ran round and round the outside of the room shouting and working off the E numbers!

I bet they all slept well that night.