Summer Birthday Bash

After I gave birth, I had the wonderful luck of joining a fantastic new mom's support group! Oh, how I looked forward to those weekly meetings for the socializing and how I truly NEEDED those weekly meetings for the advice and support that only a new mom can get from another new mom. But, I digress...
Fast-forward three years and here we all are! Who knew that we would ever survive those early years, much less have beautiful, active healthy children who survived?
Since our children were mostly born around June and July (two of the hottest months in Florida) and since we have had two full years of traipsing from one party to the next all summer long, we decided to get smart and have one big birthday bash for all the kids in our new mom's group. And, we decided to get extra smart by having it INDOORS in the air-conditioning.
Operation Summer Birthday Bash occurred at the south Tampa Gymboree on Sunday and it was a smashing success! Well, if you call 20 three year-olds running, jumping, rolling, falling, climbing, mosh-pitting, screaming, giggling, laughing and just having a grand ole' time.... then, yes, it was a huge success!
Here are some moments I managed to capture with my camera...

In this photo, the kids got to "hide" under the parachute and at the count of "five", they all came running out from under it. Oh my! This was so much fun, we had to re-enact it several times. James was always one of the first jetting out from under the parachute and he completed his exit with a throw-myself-on-the-nearest-mat-roll-around-stuntman-style-exit every time.

James getting into a tickle contest with daddy.

James started the mosh-pit with two of his roughest friends. It's a good thing these boys are sturdy! James was running and body-slamming up against them and they were loving it! When people say that boys are rough, please believe them!

One quick pose with mommy in the midst of all the tumbling and playing! Big smiles all around!

oh, I have to note that when James first saw my shirt, his immediate response was: "Mommy's got train tracks!" Does this boy ever think of anything else besides trains????

On a side note, his actual birthday isn't until July 9th. We are thinking of keeping things low-key (ie, cheap) and taking James on a trolley ride. A trolley ride to the ice cream shop and back should make for a pretty nice birthday celebration, right? He sees the bright yellow train (trolley) every day as we drive through downtown. It's only about $3 a ride and I'm thinking he will really enjoy it!

Any other cheap ideas for a three year olds birthday party?