A Magical Birthday Party

The party took almost a year to come around.  Such anticipation and discussion, I was concerned it could only end in tears after all the two year old hype. I limited numbers, knowing that being the centre of attention is what every 2 year old thinks they want, until the day arrives.  There has to be some knowledge gained from having 3 kids.  We have had some serious tears at big birthday parties.  As the time got closer the little one wanted to know if we were walking or driving.  The mass decorating of our house and thorough explaining hadn't provided the writing on the wall, of course she can't read yet and the whole party was pretty abstract in her mind.


Our plan to picnic by the Fairy Tree in the Fitzroy Gardens was quickly changed when the forecast took a turn for the worse.   Ahhhh, manic house cleaning ensued, with grumpy mummy bribing small children with computer time. They earned a whole hour and really held up their bargain to be mega super helpful.

Every day is a dress up day in our house and there were plenty of fairy dresses to choose from, but in the end she chose this princess dress. I found this vintage treasure in an op shop before I had number 3, and have had it stored in my junk room forever. What a glorious find, one of those rare moments when mother and daughter love of a garment converges. There's tulle under that skirt.

Dad is wearing green stockings and the most amazing latex elf shoes, he surprised us with a visit to the costume store.  The best family picture of everyone else is the one where I've chuckled and given myself a nasty double chin - isn't that always the way! Lucky I'm the editor.


I was tempted to go and buy evil party food, in keeping with my lazy summer disposition, but some very helpful suggestions from Christine of Slow Living Essentials saved the day.  Mid summer we are at the peak of our vegie patch harvest and are not short of food to share, it just requires preparation.  I was so pleased I made the effort. For lunch we had - home made pizzas - two vegetarian and two child friendly cheese ham numbers.  Two zuchinni slice because those green guys need eating. The real winner for the day was the home grown potato wedges - so yum. I did one lot with garlic and rosemary and another lot covered in dukkah - they were a huge hit and very simple to make - just cut into wedges and cover with oil and flavourings and bake for about 1/2 an hour.

The birthday cake was a zuchinni chocolate and pecan cake.  The recipe is from here http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-zucchini-cake-iii/.  Amazingly no one could taste or even recognise the three cups of zuchinni it contained.  A wonderful simple recipe, I might hold back a bit of oil next time but definitely a great cake.  We also had little Tinkerbell cupcakes because the little Bowerbird is obsessed with her lime green delightfulness.  


Nanna brought a beautiful fruit platter and we pulled out a huge bowl of recently picked blackberries to share, all of which was eagerly devoured.


The big Bowerbird made these amazing freezer cookies ahead of time, so they only required baking on the day.  They were utterly delicious and not one was left. I particularly loved the World Peace Cookies. In fact there was only zuchinni slice left for dinner so we guessed the catering quite well.

  

Checkout that fabulous spotty number.  The little one said - "I like your dress" to which the spotty one replied "You can touch it if you like", when you're looking special it's good to know it.


One of the problems with your own children's parties is that you're usually too busy to take pictures. Twas a lovely party with many sweet moments to remember. The bubble wands were a slight failure as we bought our bubble mix from the two dollar shop and it was a bit cheap and nasty and didn't stick to the wands which we had tested earlier.  We did send the wands home with our guests, along with some home made soaps the children had made, and zuchinnis. So pleased that the shop buys were limited to eggs, ham, cheese and flour.

My little baby really isn't so little any more. Gosh that 3 year point has me yearning for more. It all seems so doable at this age. Just exquisite that moment when you first hold them in your arms.

Happy Birthday Little Bowerbird, I hope we get to share many more with you. At the end of the day she declared that when she turns 39 she is going to have a robot party, would be very cool to see that one!