Happy Birthday Baby Shmore!

• My little Maya turned one year old on Sunday, August 5th. She was incredibly well-behaved for a little girl who refused to take her afternoon nap and had a million people buzzing around her. We opted to have the party in our backyard instead of at a playcentre like we have for Matthew's parties. Here's a quick comparison of the two types of parties:
  
  Playcentre Party
  
  $250
• Rental of building for 2 hours
• Tons of toys for kids to play with
• Set up and clean up
• 8 in. cake (although some places don't include it)
• Pizza or hot dogs, chips, juice for kids
• Guests can purchase other snacks at the desk if they want
• Decorated high chair
• Set up and clean up
• Invitations and maps
  $22
• Extra cake for grown-ups
  $25
• Cake plates, forks, printed napkins, cups
  ___________________________________________
  TOTAL: $297 (not including the presents you buy for your child(ren)
  
  
  Backyard Party
  
  $67
• 2 party pizzas, including tip
  $100
• decorations including streamers, balloons, cake candle, plates, printed napkins, forks, banners, invitations
  $22
• Cake for grown-ups
  $17
• Sacrificial birthday cake for kid (great for pictures!)
  $37
• pop and juice
  ____________________________________________
  TOTAL: $243 (not including the presents you buy for your child(ren)
  
  Not included in the above price:
  The aggravation of decorating a deck and gazebo in what felt like 100km winds, collecting dropped streamers that blew all over the damn backyard, dodging wasps that were thoroughly pissed off from having bug killer sprayed at them and their nests, stepping on dead wasps in bare feet, not having enough chairs for people to sit on, sweating like a pig in the hot sun in a south-facing backyard with no bloody trees for shade (damn new subdivisions!), and getting a frigging sunburn from being out in the sun the whole day decorating and entertaining and forgetting to put on sunscreen.
  
  
  Hmmmm, which do you think is the better bargain?