Sunday, March 8, 2015

A Dragon Birthday

While this post should've been part of Thankful November because Wesley is one of the people I'm most thankful for, like I often say, "better late than never." So here we go. In November our second-born turned 7. Because birthday season is hectic around here, we put off a kid-party until early January and then celebrate once with all three of the older kids and their friends. This reduces the stress a little bit on our schedule, but limits the opportunity for themed parties. So each kid gets a themed party on or near their birthday with just immediate family. This year Wes chose a How to Train Your Dragon party. I have to admit, I was really excited to plan this party for him. I've always been interested in our Nordic heritage and this gave me a chance to learn more while researching for his party.

His birthday sign was written using a (slightly modified) runic alphabet. It does say "Happy Birthday Wesley" even though there are only a few recognizable letters.

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No birthday is complete without a cake so I'll start with that. I can't remember when I stumbled upon this cake recipe or what occasion I had to first make it, but it has become THE birthday cake. It's not fancy (I think it originally came from the Hershey's website) and I just found it on pinterest, but there's a secret weapon that makes it the most delicious chocolate (is there any other flavor?) cake around. This everything you need, 

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but this is the secret ingredient. You have to use the Special Dark cocoa powder.

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You mix up all the dry ingredients,

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then add the wet ingredients to the dry ones,

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add some hot coffee, mix it up and...

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viola! Awesome (it'll be thin) cake batter.

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Bake it in two lined, buttered and floured nine-inch round pans.

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Let it cool (I always cool the bottom layer on the cake platter and let the top layer cool on the rack), then frost it however you like it. 

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I was inspired by this cake so I added two six-inch layers to the top of my nine-inch layers. I probably should've put the smaller layers closer to the center or figured out how to support the edge because the cake started to lean quite a bit by the time it was served. Live and learn.

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I don't do fondant so I mixed up some gray frosting, gave it a good crumb coat and put it in the fridge for a few hours.

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As you can see, I embraced the "rocky-ness" of my buttercream and left it rough around the edges. Some chocolate rocks and green icing for grass finished it off.

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I added a small Toothless figure to the top and it was ready to go.

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With the cake done, it was time to transform the rest of the house.

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Viking shields and a map of Berk were the backdrop for the dinner table.

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Snakes and fish surrounded the island,

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while dragons flew overhead.

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We dined on a fleet of twice-baked potato Viking ships,

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dragon bones,

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dragon tongues,

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and the leafy greens of a charred forest.

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I wanted to give the kids something to do while they waited for dinner to finish cooking so I had them make these fire breathing dragons. The idea was that they could use them like noise-makers, but without the noise. 

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The whole project was pretty much a big fail. Jack didn't participate at all and Wesley wasn't happy with how his was turning out.

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Elise was doing okay...until her dragon's eyeball wouldn't stay on.

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Then she cried.

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And when it was all said and done, the streamers didn't really wave when the kids blew through the tube like I promised they would. Evie was the only happy child but that's because I pretty much made hers for her and she's two so she didn't care that the streamers didn't blow around that much.

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After dinner, it was time to open gifts. Wes had on his science hat when making gift requests this year. He's spent the last few months learning about rocks...

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minerals...

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and stars.

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Wesley opted to light his own birthday candles this year.

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But he left the singing to everyone else.

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1 comment:

Judy said...

You are truly amazing! You sure can carry off a great birthday theme. I'm totally impressed!
I love your family. ��
Judy Gustafson