Cowboy Birthday Party  I had a backyard cowboy party for our twin boy's 4th birthday. We sent out invitations that looked like wanted posters. We even burned the edges of the paper to make it look old. We told them the party was being held at the M & M Ranch (our boys are Matthew and Mitchell)  My mother and I made cowboy vests out of cheap brown felt material with the bottom cut to look like fringe. We also had bandanas (also cut from coyboy print fabric from Wal-Mart), and small plastic cowboy hats for them as they arrived.  We did ask them to come dressed as cowpokes. To decorate, we pitched a tent in the backyard.  We also bought about 8 hay bails and placed them throughout the yard.  They looked great plus it was a place to sit.  We had the our boys' tractors for the kids to ride. We also had hayrides . ( It was our little red wagon filled with hay. My brother was the "horse" and pulled the kids around the yard.) We played a couple of really fun games.  First, instead of a pinata, we hid candy, rocks spray-painted gold to look like gold nuggets, silver coin chocolates, and other small toys in a huge pile of hay.  We let the little children go first and try to find as much stuff as they could. Then we let the big kids go at it. It was a blast and we didn't have the worry of a kid swing a bat and hurting someone.  We also played musical cowboy boots.  We cut cowboy boot shapes from cheap felt and had the kids stand on them. We played some country music and played the game like musical chairs.  Everyone got a prize so everyone was happy. I took lots of pictures at the party and sent them in the thank you notes. The kids had a blast and now I'm faced with the problem of having to top myself next year.