Every year I struggle with the idea of “where” to have our children’s birthday party. I go thru this not once, but twice a year. When I was a kid, birthday parties were simple. They were always thrown at our house–not a venue. That was both good and bad. It was good because we knew exactly what to expect. It was bad because knowing what to expect can sometimes become kind of boring. I’m also not my mom. She was so creative and really liked to surprise me. She would always bake a home-made cake or cupcakes from scratch. She would also have the coolest activities planned for us (kids) to entertain ourselves. And she never complained about the amount of time it took to clean our house spic’n'span before and after the party. That flashback of my mom cleaning the house, decorating the house, mixing the most delicious cake batter with her awesome hand mixer, baking the cake, frosting the cake and decorating the cake give me a smile and fills me with happy vibes. However, it also fills me with anxiety. Anxiety because there’s no way I have the time, the energy, the patience or the passion to do everything my mother did (without any help) for me and my sister by cleaning, cooking, baking and doing all the work required for our annual celebrations.  I can feel the anxiety chills as I imagine hosting any type of party at my house the “old fashion way”. So, instead of hosting a good ole cake and ice-cream eating get together at my home, I’ve created a list of venues where I’ve either had my kids parties or am planning on having their parties in the near future. I’d like to share my list with you. This is a list of venues recommended for children ages 1 to 9 years old. Click on the names of the venues for the direct links to their websites. Happy Celebrating!

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