J had a wonderful time and enjoyed having all of her friends here, not often do we see them all at the same time. Her friends made a supreme effort to attend coming from all over NY, CT and NJ - some travelling for over an hour to get here.
The calm before the storm. All three children had a class booked on the morning of J's party, my friend RH offered to take them because both of her children were also in the class, this gave me an unprecedented 2 hours at home and this is what I did with my time....
J and friends on the treasure hunt.
W, an archer.
J and friends.
The Party Goers! all in the spirit of dressing up - some went to quite a lot of trouble, like PM the King and SF Joan of Arc, HR the Mage (I had only just heard this word for the first time a week ago and here I was meeting one in person).
J's cake was a castle, two layers of Caramel Cake with Caramel Icing and a Crenelated third story with conical towers - would not mind living in something like this myself. Cake was a hit - it was delicious. Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices cookbook - caramel butter cake with caramel icing. The key of course is the Golden Syrup, yum.
Opening presents at her party and a big cuddle from her little brother.
On her actual Birthday, D delayed his departure for the train so that he could be present for the presents! For her birthday dinner we tried a new Restaurant, chinese - it was great, good food, good service and close to home.
We based the theme for W's party on Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief and the Odysey. With the help of a number of roped in parents (only two of which had any warning before the party) we managed to pull it off pretty nicely.
When all of the guests had arrived Hera (that was me) took them down stairs and we prepared to enter the 'feast' Before we could do so, Hermes arrived to tell us that Zeus had left Mt Olympus and needed to speak to the chidlren, they could not go into the feast until he had spoken.
It turns out that some one had stollen Zeus's lightening bold (sound familiar) and he thoguht one of the children had, they convinced him of their innocence and he told them that it must have been his brother Hades. He sent them on a Quest to the Underworld to retrieve it (because Zeus is unable to enter his Brother's realm).
Hermes and Athena (our first two parents)then gave the chidlren their gifts. Athena gave them a sword, Hermes gave them gold coins and ear plugs.
Three unsuspecing mum's who agreed to stay and help, little did they know that peeling oranges was not the only order of business on this day, firstly they are the Sirens and the children's first obstacle. With music playing, they beckoned to the chidlren to join them. Of course Hermes Ear Plugs came in handy here and the children were able to thwart the sirens and make it across the water too....
The Lair of the Lotus Eaters. Only two of the children refused to be lulled by the flower shaped cookies offered to them by the lotus eaters but still they were all delayed here for many days until finally Hermes reminded them of their quest.
Of course you know who these folks are right? ok, so unless you too have a son wrapped up in the world of Greek Mythology (Norse and Egyptian too but we limited this quest to the gods and monsters of just the Greeks) perhaps you can be forgiven. The winged helmet and the owl are the keys to working this out.
This is Hermes, Messanger of the Gods and Athena, Godess of Strategy and Wisdom.
Another supurb effort from a roped in father...Here is Polyphemus - having been tricked into taking the gift from W (aka bottle of beer) he falls asleep and....
The chidlren all atempt to stab his eye with a spear, all of the 'spears' above the picture were those who hit their mark....I have a feeling the blind fold may have let us down at times!
Finally to the Underworld and their meeting with Hades, what a wonderful job our friend CB did as the Lord Hades, (sun glasses models own). He really got into the spirit of being the God of the Underworld and entertained us all, trying diligently to entice the children to eat with him - they could not be fooled, none of them fell for that old trick and they all managed to buy their way out of the underworld with the gold Hermes had given them and they had the information they needed.....Medusa had the Lightening Bolt and the Grey Sisters know where she is.
The Grey Sisters, with their one eye are the only ones who can tell us where Medusa lives. We just have to get the information out of them before they grab us. So one of the children manages to grab the eye and convinces the Grey Sisters to tell him what he needs to know.
Medusa was duely located and defeated - 17 times, once by each child, who had to walk backward down the side of our house from front yard to back yard, up two steps and around the corner, into a ditch and wham, remove her head with their sword (they had mirrors - origianlly Athena had given Perseus a shield which he used to see Medusa's reflection). Thankfully no one was turned to stone and the LB was recovered.
Zeus, delighted to have his lightening bolt back safe and sound and Medusa's head in the bargin - what a great day!
The feast was enjoyed by all and then it was time for the cake and the singing of happy birhtday cha cha cha.
W's birthday cake was a sword - it looked huge but in reality it was just a large rectangle cut in half and placed end to end, a shape cut in one end to look like a point of a sword and a few extra bits from J's left over cake piece to make the hilt. Also a caramel cake with caramel icing, very popular with all the children and the adults to.
On his actual birthday:
W was pretty happy with his booty this year, he was able to cross off quite a few things on his wish list which was pretty clever of me I thought!
W's birthday dinner at our favourite seafood restaurant.
1 comment:
That looks like an amazing party!
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