Tuesday, October 7, 2014

dinosaurs on parade

Well, it happened.  Nikola turned 3.  This is my least favorite age so far, for all children.  I feel bad for them, but I also feel bad for me having to be around them.  To me, 3 is a glimpse into who they will be in their teens (I may be wrong, my oldest is only 4 1/2 so what do I know?) and it's terrifying.  Emotions everywhere, and no verbal skills to really work through it.  Tears, screaming, defiance. When Aaron was 3, it was just so hard.  He was such a sweet little 2 year old, and then he melted down for an entire year.  But now he's the best 4 year old you can imagine, so I suppose it was worth it and we survived it.  In any case, I love my children, so 3 or not...we celebrate the birthdays, even if the birthday feels like a thinly veiled threat.

This is the 3rd dinosaur birthday party we've thrown, and I think they've improved each time.  Aaron's 1st was semi-dinosaur themed.  He didn't particularly care for dinosaurs, but he sure loved Barney, so I stretched it.  What I didn't realize at the time is that my boys would become obsessed with dinosaurs (as most young boys do) and I would just continue throwing these themed parties.  Here are a few pictures of the first party, rainbow cake and all. 




The next dinosaur party was Nikola's 2nd birthday last year, and I went a little crazier with the theme.  There were blow up dinosaurs everywhere, and all of the boys' toys served as decorations. 


Well, this year Nik asked for a dinosaur party again.  We had been talking about Wolverine, Hulk, Batman...but when it came time to make the final decision, dinosaurs won yet again.  What is it about dinosaurs that just captures our imaginations?  Nik isn't a big party, center of attention kind of dude, so he got a smaller party this year.  We decided to do a dinner party for a small number of family members and I think it was our biggest success yet!  As it was, we stretched our seating situation pretty thin, otherwise we would have invited a few more people.  (Poor Kallista had to sit in a lawn chair for dinner!)

Dinner was a rack of pork chops, on the bone.  Stupid me didn't take a photo of it, but you can imagine. It looked just like the rack of dinosaur ribs from the Flintstones intro.   The butcher at Roseaurs who did the special request was almost giddy when he was asked.  It was served with a sliced potato chip covered in a mushroom and chive sauce, roasted fall vegetables and a tomato and red onion relish.  When your husband is a chef, kids parties look downright elegant.   

The cake was dark chocolate, with fudge frosting and blueberries - exactly what the birthday boy asked for.  Well, mostly.  He said "chocolate wif...bwoobewwies!", and I said that sounds insane. But you know what?  It wasn't insane at all!  It was vegan, it was moist, it was decadent.  Everything you need from a chocolate cake, even without the dairy and eggs.  I'll share the recipe soon, as well as how to's for the dinner food.






All in all, the party was a success.  Happy Tuesday, friends!

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