Birthday Party Prep

So, after almost seven years of parenthood, we decided it was finally time to allow a little Birthday Party fun into our children's lives.  With the best intentions and the highest hopes, we decided to let Joshua choose his own party theme which we would then guide carefully through to its realization.  He chose wild animals, and Liz has a host of party games planned around the animals, and after she made the fantastic shell for the piñata, I went to work transforming it into the King of Beasts.  It took the better bart of two hours, but I'm proud of my first foray into piñata making; I just hope Liz didn't make it too strong for five year-olds to break!

You might think the photo is yellowed, but it's not.  It's just a lot of yellow stuff in one picture.  After the piñata, I set to work on what was originally supposed to be a rhinoceros cake.  Yeah, rhino.  There were a few elemental problems:

1. How does one fashion a rhinoceros out of funfetti-filled cake?  I love my son, but I was not up to figuring that one out.
2. Grey icing.  I can't even imagine how would one make grey icing.  (There's a little tribute to Steel Magnolias and the bleedin-armadilla-groom'scake.)

So, after combing the cake molds and discarding cartoon characters, vehicles, and every princess known to man, Joshua came to an agreement on this teddy bear.  Not so ferocious as the rhino, but definitely effective in his own little way.  Besides that, I'm rather proud of my decorating job, also a first for me.

I got my parental reward tonight when Joshua came down and exclaimed, "Dad, that is so coo00oool!"  He immediately called his brothers around to show off my handiwork.  They agreed, definitely cool.  It's nice to be cool every now and again.

Now we brace for the onslaught of sugar-charged friends, acquaintances, and church buddies.  This should be a riot; 

likely similar to the LA riots of 1992 . . .