Politics of a Birthday Party

So I'm planning Grace's 8th birthday party. I am trying my best to keep it simple because I'm tired of going overboard on this child's parties.
Let me give you an idea of how overboard we have been in the past. For her 1st birthday, we cooked briskits, pitched tents, put out box fans, baby pools and a moonwalk. We invited about 80 people (Oh yeah, we were proud parents) and over 80 people came. Most of the time, they say you can expect a 50% return on invitations you send out. Well, we got over 100%. I had never been more tired in my life. My sister-in-laws stayed late not just to help me clean up, but also to help me open the mountain of presents left by the front door.
Last year, we kept it small (about 12 kids) and had it at a bowling alley. I won't be doing that again either. Two moms actually showed up, dropped off their kids and didn't even bring a present. I was basically a free babysitter for a couple hours. Nice!
This year, I'm having a simple pool party at the house. I've already made sure I have reinforcements on hand to watch over every aspect of the party. I'm looking forward to this one.