party time

With their birthday only 4 days apart, A and E are destined to have combined birthday parties forever.  Or at least a few more years.

So a few weeks ago, A and I sat together looking at birthday cakes on pinterest until she fell in love with a Rapunzel cake.  Her favorite princess tends to rotate between a top 3 but Rapunzel is usually the first choice.  And E is recently crazy about "mickey da mouse!".  Remembering that BOTH L and A had picked Minnie cakes for their 2nd birthdays, it was only fitting that child #3 would also have a Minnie cake for her 2nd birthday.  (I make their cakes, but we look at pictures online to let them pick out the theme.)  A helped me design the invitations on PhotoShop (turning out super cute) and we threw an amazing Minnie Mouse/Rapunzel party.

On Friday, I baked the cakes with some batter-licking little helpers.  Once they cooled, the big girls helped me decorate. 

A's cake was a chocolate layered cake (with fudge filling).  We covered it with green buttercream frosting (for grass) and then built Rapunzel's tower out of a stack of ice cream cones wrapped with fondant and topped with a waffle cone for the roof.  Once assembled, I made a little window and added yellow buttercream frosting trailing down the tower, winding around the cake's edge and then gracefully (I hope) writing out her name in cursive.  We also made cupcakes with purple liners, chocolate cake, yellow frosting and topped with a tiara ring for the kids to keep (per A's instructions). 

E's cake was strawberry layers with fudge filling.  First was a 8" round cake, about 3 inches tall which we covered with pink fondant and then added white poka dots.  On top of that was a 6" dome covered with black fondant (to make Minnie's head).  We added the big round ears and large floppy bow to create the (if I do say so myself) adorable creation.  Then using pink and white poka dot liners to make the cupcakes, we piped on chocolate frosting and added thin mints for the ears.  Cute and tasty. 

On Saturday morning we attended a family brunch and my niece's baptism.  What a wonderful experience!  So proud of her for the good choices she's making.  After the baptism, we ran a few quick errands to pick up food and headed for the park.  Since so much family was already gathered for the baptism, we held the birthday party at a nearby park shortly after to save on driving.

So we arrived and began setting up.  (and this is always where I go a little crazy).  One table hosting the cakes, the cupcake towers and presents (and for two kids with generous friends and family, it filled the table).  I lucked out and got Rapunzel and Minnie plates/napkins/cupcake towers on sale so it was fun, bright and cute.  On another table, we set up the food.  We made ham and cheese sandwiches for the kids, cut with a Mickey cookie cutter for the festive shape (amidst lots of jokes and samplings from grown ups as we ate the leftover outside pieces).  We also made pulled pork sandwiches and had a large variety of raw veggies, apples and grapes, all served in frying pans (in honor of Rapunzel of course).  Daddy hung the pinata and guests began arriving as we finished setting up.  And as it began to rain.  a lot.

But fortunately, we were under a large pavilion that kept us and all the party dry.  A few of the kids ventured out into the rain anyway to play on the playground or puddle jump but for the most part, we kept the party under the pavilion. 

For our first activity, each of the kids got a set of watercolors (to take home after) and a white lantern.  (thanks to the dollar store and Zurchers)  It was so fun to see the row of kids happily dabbing paint onto their lanterns.  But with limited attentions and increasing rain we had to move on quickly.  I skipped some of the games we planned (including a ring toss around Mickey characters and a volleyball variation using Flynn Ryder balloons and Rapunzel's frying pans.  We did play "Tangled Up", where the kids worked with a partner, one child standing still while the other wrapped an entire roll of crepe paper around them (without tearing it).  The fastest teams received Disney puzzles (really cute, from the dollar store) as their prizes.  And lastly, the pinata.  We passed out the Rapunzel treat bags and the kids went to town swinging against the Minnie pinata.  We barely made it through the whole group before it burst and the kids all got plenty of candy.

Dessert was devoured, presents were opened gleefully (their favorite part is tossing the tissue paper high in the air) and despite the rain, the girls had a wonderful time.  A told me before bedtime (quoting Rapunzel but hopefully sincerely), "mom! it was the best day ever!"