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hi - i am looking for some fresh ideas for my son's 5th birthday party. we have exhausted pump it up and inflatables!!  any ideas close to the north shore area (we live in evanston) or at home party ideas are greatly appreciated.

Actually, I threw a "Terrible Twos" theme for my daughter's birthday a couple of years ago, but I think it would work for a 5 year old boy.  The idea of the party is to get a messy as possible without getting into trouble, which I think 5 year old boys can manage without a problem.  We had craft supplies so that kids or parents could make their own t-shirts and picture frames.  We had a make your own sundae bar.  For the games, there was "digging for worms" where we laid out a plastic wrap on the floor (I guess you could do it on a table, too), spread a layer of chocolate pudding, a layer gummy worms, and a layer or two of cookie crumbs.  For a given amount of time, contestants (young and old--my 60-something year old great aunt was down there) with their hands behind their back, pick out the worms using their teeth.   The person who gets the most worms wins a prize.  Another game involved pairing people.  One dons a shower cap with shaving cream on top and kneels or stands approx. 5 ft. from his partner.    The partner then tries to get as many Cheetos on his partners cap as possible in a given amount of time, and the pair who has the most, wins.  There are a ton of those messy games on the internet.  I put on the invitation that people should not wear their best clothes, because they were sure to get messy.  My daughter's birthday is in winter, so I used my father's empty basement, as there was little in the way of obstacles, and easier clean-up; perhaps you will find that this idea works outside as well.

I have thrown 2 parties at the Wilmette Park District gymnastics facility.  For my twin boys' 5 yr and 6 yr birthday parties.  Both were HUGE hits!  The staff there are so great- very professional- adults, not teenagers.  They have a large expansive facility.  They do real gymnastics with the kids, not the My Gym cutesy stuff!

 Prices are very reasonable- it's $140 for 0-9 kids for one hr of gymnastics and 1 hr in a party room.  $60 for each additional 9 kids (so $200 for 0-18 kids, $260 for 0-27 kids, etc).  For an additional $90 (I think) you can rent the large party room- which I highly recommend- we did it this year for 27 kids and the room was awesome!  The kids have always had a great time, and what I like is that it is structured and interactive, the kids actually are engaged with each other constructively- whereas with the pump it up places the kids just run crazy with no real engagement or structure!