UPDATE:
Well, now that the party is done, I wanted to say that the bouncy castle and pinata were really successful. Fortunately today the weather held out for some outdoor fun. I was looking at the Weather Network every day just hoping that it wasn't going to snow. Started out with RSVPs from 17 kids, but later some dropped out because they were sick and we were just down to 14, with a few parents sticking around to make it more manageable. Also because we planned it for after lunch and before dinner, we didn't have to feed them a lot, so fruit tray, drinks, and cake were enough before they all were back out bouncing around to their hearts content.
The only bad part was the miscommunication between my wife and myself and had the kids starting to come about an hour before the bouncy castle was set up. Also the pinata was the kind of rip it apart kind, and not the smash it kind. This resulted in about 10 minutes of kids hitting something that they would have no chance of smashing open before we realized that it wasn't paper mache. Also the cake, from Costco wasn't that great. The icing was too sweet, and I am surprised how many kids didn't even finish a small piece of cake. Next birthday will probably be a small home-made cake and ice cream instead.
Overall, really happy. Cost breakdown was basically - $180 for the bouncy castle rental, $20 for goody bag stuff, $15 for a pinata, $20 for cake, $20 for fruit tray and various drinks.
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