Today is Max and Rebecca's birthday. They celebrated in fine style yesterday at home.
They had three guests, two cakes, one pinata and a ton of fun.
Max requested an orange cake with a killer whale on it. I was brave this year and tried making a new to me frosting. It's called luscious orange and it was pretty good. It never really set-up, instead it looked like I slathered the cake in marshmallow fluff. But, it tasted great with a nice full orange flavor. I'll definitely try this one again, hopefully it'll look a little less like fluff.
Rebecca meanwhile got her traditional white cake with chocolate frosting with a pretty pink pony gracing the top.
Some people are amazed that I make two cakes, but I think it is the right thing to do. It's one thing to share a party, but to make them share a cake is a bit much. They are, so far, very cooperative in selecting joint decorations. I can't ask them compromise on their cakes. However, they don't get full sized cakes. I use a small 8 inch pan and make only a fraction of the batter. Rebecca's is reduced by 1/2 and Max's by 1/3.
We end up with some leftovers, but at a more manageable level.
Enough about the cakes, the party itself was great. Max and Rebecca were in their element and so were their three friends. The five of them had a great time running around in the yard, jumping in the bouncy tent and just plain having a good time. One of the guests, Abbey (she's behind Rebecca), was brought over by her father and accompanied by her two older brothers. Her dad fully intended just to drop her off, but he and the boys had too much fun and never left. This was great for Jake and Nate as the boys all matched up in age. I think it says a lot they everybody had fun.
My mother in law and her husband had come down to visit and they were a big help. They straightened up the house for the onslaught wile I finished the cakes (I really need to stop with the last minute decorating). They were also crucial for the pinata.
The pinata was the big event and was the main reason why the party was held at home. The dynamic duo really wanted a pinata and I told them it would not be possible to have one if we held the party elsewhere.
Shopping for the pinata was an adventure. The two of them kept gravitating to different characters. The only thing they could agree on was that it could not be a pull string pinata (those are for babies); they wanted one that you had to bash for the candy. After going back and forth for quite a while I noticed up on the top shelf two of the more traditional types, a bull and a donkey/llama (I think it was supposed to be a burro, but it looked more like a llama to me). They settled on the llama and we were all set.
It turns out that the traditional styles are far more durable. It took a good long time until there was success. First the legs got bashed off and after a few more rounds Max was able to administer the final blow. It would have been faster if we had allowed the older boys to participate, but we limited it just to party guests. Grandma and Grandpa had a hard enough time corralling the six year olds.
Then it was present time and our party guests were reluctantly led away. Meryl stayed for dinner and Max declared as I tucked him into bed "This was the best birthday ever."
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