We had a bounce house, piñata, a mystery fishing game, and a life-sized board game painted on the lawn. Nine guests, plus the birthday boy, all between the ages of six and eleven, and an equal number of adults. Pre-party (garden-saving) planning included plenty of wood chips in the beds and borders nearest the activity areas and careful placement of potted plants and flowers to direct traffic away from sensitive areas. Plus, our just turned nine year-old is very adept at guiding his friends to play and run on the lawn, not in mom's flowerbeds.
He even organized his own obstacle course game during an after lunch lull in the preplanned activity schedule.
The earlier nightfall was good for glow sticks, LED balloons, and since we've had a wet summer, fireworks over the lake.
The gardens and yard look pretty good now; no crushed plants, the grass is recovering, and all of the cleanup is done!
