With all the things that go on here, planning for any event is just adding more stress onto the pile. Last year, after our best couple friends' son's 2nd birthday party, I mentioned that for the 3rd birthday we should do a farm party out at our place. The mom, Beth, was in!
So a couple months ago we started planning, and the last week has been full of frantic yard work and making the farm as kid friendly as possible. Since we have no children of our own, and the house and most of the farm is in a constant state of remodel and expansion, there's a lot of areas that pile up and don't get messed with until absolutely necessary.
Luckily, Beth is a teacher and her husband is a stay at home dad, so they were able to come by on Friday and help with pulling weeds and mowing yards (with nearly two acres of just yard space, this takes some time!). They arrived early and Chris (the dad) went right to work on the mowing, my own husband started on the weed eating and Beth started making balloons for the party's big water balloon fight. I started on pulling weeds.
We worked hard until a little afternoon when rain forced us to take a lunch break. We all cleaned up and went to get lunch and then came home and finished up outside chores. They went home and I started on a little of the house work.
Saturday came, and the morning was busy - cleaning off the deck, setting up chairs, spraying off the driveway, etc. At 2pm our friends arrived to decorate and finish getting ready, and just about 4pm the first guests arrived!
First up, we had a country style barbecue, with my husband grilling up hot dogs and hamburgers. We also had homemade baked beans, potato salad, Mississippi Sin Dip, chips, lemonade, sweet tea and the best party punch.
About 5pm we loaded the kids onto the trailer and started the hay ride/farm tour. We drove up to the poultry yard and visited the turkeys, chickens, and ducks. The kids also got to see our rabbits and our trio of lady goats. Of course, we had Goliath (the LGD) locked up in a kennel far enough away to discourage anyone from getting too close. After 20 minutes or so running around and seeing the little animals, we loaded back onto the trailer and drove around up to visit the llamas. 
Usually the ladies (and a gelded gentleman) spend the day back under some trees in the shade, but around 5ish they emerge to eat grass and trek to the water tank. We caught up to them just in time, and with the encouragement of a little feed, Fancy, one of our girls, hung out next to the trailer eating and letting the kids pet her. Some of the other llamas came up to the trailer and sniffed at the kids but didn't seem interested in being touched. Of course, most of the kids were so nervous they didn't seem to want to touch any of them either!
After 10 minutes with the llamas we moved on to the back pasture to see the donkeys. Now, our boys are rowdy as most donkeys can be, so we didn't want to take any chances and kept a fence between us and the donks. Jaxon and Zeke are unpredictable at best, and I was sure if they would nip, or even come up to the fence. I was quite surprised that not only did they come to the fence, they allowed the kids (and a few adults) to pet them through the fence. No fighting, no nipping. It was amazing! The kids really seemed to enjoy it.
We followed up the donkeys by enjoying our hayride back to the house where we had started. Everyone unloaded and we headed to the deck for cake and ice cream. Once cake had been eaten it was on to the pinatas. We had two, and it was fun to watch the kids try to break them open. We followed that up with a fun filled water balloon fight, opening gifts and a little bit of visiting before the party ended.
Once the guests were gone, we picked up the trash and then our friends, their two kids, my husband and I retreated to the pool for a little R&R. It was much needed!
Throughout the party the other parents kept asking if we "do" parties here at the farm. While it was a success and everyone had a great time, it's just not something we could do with any sort of regularity. Too much work involved, and though the farm critters bounced back, I think that sort of attention is too much stress to do more than occasionally.
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