Bday party!

So my youngest, K, will be tunring 2 in a week! We had his party this past weekend, originally in hopes that some out of town friends would be able to come in due to the holiday (they didn't). I don't know how you feel about kid birthday parties....but we dont' go "all out " in the way thats so popular today. I feel if the party costs more than the birth its way too much! We are simple with our bday partys. I made cupcakes this year, usually we do a store bought cake but I figured even I could make monster cupcakes! If they looked bad it was b/c they were monsters... right? We set up the kiddie pool in the backyard, filled the sandbox with ant free sand. And threw some toys around the yard after tying up our horse-sized dog! Result? Will kids like an "old-school" style bday party?? Will there be complaints of where's the moonwalk? NO!! They loved it! NO one complained!! They fussed when it was time to come in and blow out candles but stopped when they realized this meant they got cake! I don't imagine I will ever be one of those parents that spends way too much on a birthday party and I really dont understant why people do it? But I'm hereby giving everyone permission to no join in the who can spend more on a party competition! Am I saying we will never have a party at Chuck E Cheese? Well while I really really hope the answer is no we wont I'm smart enough to know that we might. When the boys are old enough to ask for it and have a list of kids they want to invite we will talk about it. But I'm seeing a few more yrs of backyard parties in our future!And ya know what? They loved it the free time to run around get wet, and sandy!! Eat cake outside with their fingers! They think we rock!!!