Star Wars Party!

Due to our trip to Sydney we decided to hold Jack's party the week after his actual birthday. Star Wars is the flavour du jour and so I had been planning a Star Wars style obstacle course for weeks after reading about this amazing party.
On the day the kids built their own droid and then had to enter the death star, escape the garbage compactor (how many kids parties involve kids playing in the recycling?), dodge blaster fire, spot the Ewoks, defeat Darth and his Imperial army, pin the ear on Yoda, don Wookie feet and race to turn of the tractor beam and finally to destroy the death star by getting a proton torpedo in the exhaust whatsit. Phew. This was followed by Wookie (and Yoda, C3PO and Darth) Cookies, fruit, star shaped sandwiches and a Death star Cake. Is it mean to ask children to blow out the candles when it's actually a sparkler?

 Our Leias and Lukes and Sith Lords left clutching their inflatable lightsabers and party bags and we sat down to recharge our force and work out what to do with the four litres of Milo that was leftover after I constructed the Wookie feet. Milo anyone?

Homework

Jack's homework has changed this year. Instead of photocopied pages of questions, he is assigned tasks to complete like maths and spelling, a chore (!!) and a creative activity. Last week's activity was to draw a tropical sea creature and label it so he drew a white tip reef shark. Doorselfins? Definitely.

The Lion King

Last year when it was announced that the Lion King was being staged again in Sydney, Jack thought we should go. I said I would get tickets and never quite got around to booking any. Still, it couldn't be that hard to get them could it? Oh. Yes. Quite. Luckily Ganma bought some for us for Christmas (not Sam as he is too young and wriggly). It seemed like such a long time away for so long then all of a sudden it was upon us. Despite detours due to St Patrick's day parades and torrential downpours, we made it. The highlight of course was the look on Jack's face when all the puppets first came on stage.

And yes, Jack has had a haircut (thanks for noticing). When the hairdresser asked him how he wanted it cut he said like Luke Skywalker. Strangely, she had no idea who this Luke person is (or should that be was?) but he was pleased with the result. Apparently it's vital to have a square fringe. 

Another March Birthday! Jack

Today Jack is 7 which is quite frankly hard to believe. Yesterday he had some early birthday celebrations including a cake with a smaller family gathering than anticipated (Nonno was quarantined with flu). I know it's not usual to blow out the candles on a cake with a slice missing, but Scarlett, who also had to miss out on the celebratory dinner had the missing slice with a candle.

Assembly!

I am back at work (only two days a week) but unfortunately one of those days is the day that Jack has assembly. I feel reluctant to ask for time off but recently his class were doing an item and my manager said, "You must go!" and made it possible for me to do so. Jack didn't know I was coming so was surprised to see me there. Luckily he also got an award that day too.
Not to be outdone, Sam wriggled and squirmed on our laps, until he farted loudly, giggled and announced, "fart!"

Paint!

I love this new googly flashing pic thingy, it's really enough to give you a fit. Anyway, here's Sam doing some Jackson Pollock inspired daubing. He certainly has a different style from Jack and uses both hands to get as much paint as possible on the canvas and everything else.

Cake!

 Sunday was Sam's second birthday. When he woke up and we wished him a happy bithday he exclaimed, "Cake!"
Because really, with an older brother with lots of toys, presents aren't really a priority. It's all about the cake (nearly wrote Kale - for Sam, it will never be about the kale).
With that in mind I was thinking about the kind of cake I could make. As Sam is also a huge fan of Peppa Pig's brother George and his Mr Dinosaur (or Saur as Sam calls him) it only took a moment to decide on what kind of cake it should be. Needless to say Sam was delighted with his 'Saur' cake and proceeded to pick off all the chocolate drops.