Big Birthday Weekend

Dixon turns five on Thursday! So this weekend, we had a party.

It all started with a theme. Make that three themes: Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars. With a little layer of Lego:

This was the invitation. That's supposed to be Luke Skywalker on the right, in case his totally non-Luke outfit had you wondering.

 Like last year, Dixon recruited Alicia to help with the cake (he knows she's got skills - and patience - that I lack). The theme: Indy running from the boulder. The inspiration: a picture we found online a few years ago. The process: lengthy.



Team Cake, mid-decoration. That big boulder is made out of fondant-covered rice krispie treat and the surrounding "cave" is also fondant. Both are sprayed with edible color.

Since I was relieved of cake-decorating responsibilities, I got crazy with the games. Of course I forgot to take many pictures, but I did snap a few. First: "Make Your Own Mini Light Saber":



Pipe cleaners and wooden dowels go a long way when you're in my basement, surrounded by posters of Darth Vader and hanging stars.

Next: "Find the Lost Golden Idol." I wish I'd gotten a picture of this set-up, which involved a crepe and tissue paper "cave," a paper pom "boulder" and a punch bowl full of golden idols:

Making the signage for each game pretty much maxed out my artisitic ability.

And finally, pin (tape) the earring on the pirate. Oddly enough, none of the kids wanted my sister's boyfriend to blindfold them before they did their earring pinning.

Captain Jack Sparrow looks pretty psyched about all the 4-year olds poking at his face.

It was supposed to rain on Sunday afternoon, during the party, so all the games were set up in our basement, instead of outside, as originally planned. Fortunately, it did NOT rain, so the 26 kids in my house were able to go outside to let off some steam before pizza and cake. Good thing, too. That is a lot of kids.

And anyway, when the cake came outside, I thought I was going to have to physically restrain some of the kids. They were crazy excited. I also thought our weak little IKEA deck table was going down under their shaking:

I felt very confident, weilding a match in the middle of 20 kids about to riot.

 The cake didn't last too long, but it really was a hit - Alicia outdid herself this year. And at least we'll always have the photos:

That's four - FOUR - box cakes, delicious homemade butter cream, and about $70 worth of cake decoration products from Michaels. As Alicia said, during a particularly iffy moment on Saturday, "THIS is why most people just buy their kids' birthday cakes." Of course, "most people" don't get the same kind of satisfaction out of their cakes, either.

All in all, it was a super successful party all the way around. Dixon could not have had more fun - he's lucky to have a ton of great kids as friends. And Alicia! He's lucky to have Alicia!