A Pandemic Birthday

We interrupt our regular weekend adventures to document an important and momentous occasion - Thatbaby turned 5! 

I, of course, turned another year older too, but as usual, that's less of an occasion than his birthday.

Turning 5 during a pandemic is definitely a different kind of birthday.  And since there's no Disney trip, and no party, we decided to just make him in charge of the day, getting to do whatever he wanted.  We also went a little overboard with presents.

The thing he wanted most of all was an Elsa costume, complete with wig, crown, and shoes.  He was so happy to open it up the morning of his birthday - and immediately had to put it on. 

He said he was going to wear it every day for the rest of his life.

The other thing he loves as much as Frozen is King Trollex from the new Trolls movie.  Oh you don't know who King Trollex is?  Probably because he's really only featured in the first 5 minutes of the movie and there's almost no merchandise related to him.  There is a DJ set, since King Trollex is a DJ.

I managed to find a sheet set and we put in on his be while he slept.  HE LOVED IT.  He brought it out the living room so he could cuddle in it all day, and that night he took all the stuffed animals off his bed so he could see all of it, all the time.

We let him pick all the meals for the day, and so he got pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles for breakfast.

And the rest of the morning was really just playing with all his new stuff.

For lunch he wanted a salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and hard boiled eggs.

In terms of a party, I had thought about doing a Zoom party run by Storybook Entertainment - the company that had been keeping my kids entertained for months with their Princess led crafts and Superhero led activities.  We had talked about Wonder Woman hosting the party and doing crafts and activities with Thatbaby and his friend.  But a couple weeks before the his birthday I talked to Thatbaby about who he would want to invite....and he only wanted to invite 2 people.  Wonderwoman and 2 kids seemed a bit overkill.  

I had read about a company out of New York, Camp.com, that was running free virtual birthday parties every day.  You signed up in advance, sent them information about your child, and they sent you a link to share with your friends and family.  They promised singing, dancing, puppets, magic, and personalize it for each birthday kid.  We sent the link out to the 2 friends and our family and logged in at the appropriate time.

They separated the "guests" from the birthday kids (we had one other boy there besides us).  The guests were in a non-interactive Zoom room where they could see and hear us, but we couldn't see or hear them.  We had a "host" who came out with a puppet and started out by trying to the kids pumped up.  He addressed each birthday boy, had them introduce their families and how old they were going to be.  

A screen was made for each boy with their picture and their favorite things, while one of their favorite songs played.

Then they brought out a different "counselor" who led the kids in a dance party and then a Disney trivia game.  Around this point I don't know if it was because they had a poor connection (they'd been coming in and out thus far) or whether the other boy really wasn't into it (he didn't seem like he was loving it), the other boy dropped off the Zoom and it became a private party for Thatbaby.   

After trivia they brought in the other room with our friends and family and they all got to say hi and give birthday wishes.  The host and puppet led a scavenger hunt for all the participants, and then had everyone grab their cakes and cupcakes so we could all sing Happy Birthday.  (We sent cupcakes and goody bags to all the participants before the party so they could join in for this part)

And that cake?  Oy that cake.  Thatbaby had originally asked for a watermelon that looked like a cake as well as a cake that looked like a lobster tail and corn.  2 days before his birthday he reminded me he wanted chocolate chips in his watermelon cake and seemed astounded when I told him I can't get chocolate chips into the middle of an actual watermelon.  Right then and there he decided he didn't want either of those cakes.  He wanted a cake that looked like a watermelon - so he could have chocolate chips in it that look like seeds.

So that's what he got.

After Thatbaby blew out his candles, the host did a fun little skit with the puppet and then hosted a dance party for all the friends and family.

In fitting with the theme of "do whatever you want" day for Thatbaby, Thatboy blew up the pool and let them play in it - a big deal since we don't usually let them play in the pool during the week.

He took a little break for some cake.

After he was pooled out, we headed back inside to watch Frozen 2 and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner.

But before bed, we did a quick happy birthday for me too.

Where I gave him a little frosting "kiss"

And he gave one right back to me.

80s Flashback: Fluffernutter mug cake

This weekend we got into our DeLoreans and headed back to the 80s.  Mostly it was just Thatboy and I reliving our childhood memories and dragging the kids along with us, but they seemed to enjoy the ride.  Like when Thatkid asked if I could help him dress the part.

We started the morning out with a little Mousercise, which Thatbrother and I used to do all the time when we were little.

We followed this with some intense koosh-ball game play.

We took a break for some lunch, fluffernutters, bugles, and capri suns.  The fluffernutters were a nod to my dad who used to make them for us when my mom was out of town.

The cornerstone of the day was saved for after nap.  We've been watching the new season of Double Dare as a family so the kids are familiar, but obviously it's something Thatboy and I grew up with in the 80s too.  You think your kids like slime? OUR GENERATION INVENTED SLIME!

I set up our very own Double Dare obstacle course in the backyard.  And the kids loved it.  I set it up so they would each have 3 obstacles to get through.

Thatbaby started it off with the first obstacle - The Tank.

My goal was to fill our pool up with ball-pit balls, but once I dumped them all in, I realized - our new pool is REALLY big.  So I added water.  Thatbaby had to wade in and across and search for the flag, before passing it off to his brother.

Thatkid took off running to the second obstacle "Inside Out."  

Thatkid had to pop balloons to find the one which held the flag inside.  

He passed the flag off to Thatbaby who took it to Obstacle 3 - The Pie Shop.

Hidden in one of these pies was - you guessed it - a flag!

Once he found the flag, Thatkid went running over to The Swamp.

He had to dig through the jello to get to the flag buried below.

Thatbaby's next obstacle was sewer chute.

Inside two of these buckets were slime, and one held water and he had to dump them out to find the one that also held the flag.

They weren't dumping as well as we would have liked, so Thatboy helped them along.

The final obstacle was Mount St. Doubledare.

Thatkid had a really hard time getting to the top, he eventually resorted to using the climbing wall beside the slide.

We let them play in the obstacles for a bit more, then sent them inside to bathe and clean up before dinner and a little Back to the Future.  

And then we dimmed the lights, turned on a disco ball, threw glow bracelets and necklaces on the kids, gave them air guitars, and pumped up the 80s jams.

Neither of the kids wanted to go to bed, they wanted to dance all night.  Thatkid even said the dance party was his favorite part of the day.

In honor of our 80s day, I didn't want to share with you the recipe for fluffernutters.  That would be like giving you the recipe for peanut butter and jelly.  Almost exactly.  Instead a recipe inspired by the fluffernutter - a fluffernutter mug cake.  I made these for the boys last week as kind of a preview of what they'd be getting on the weekend.  They're great because they're so easy to make and this one makes two portions - perfect for 2 kids!

Fluffernutter Mug Cakes

2 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted

2 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp white vinegar

1 egg 

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

1/4 cup mini marshmallows

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together butter, milk, oil, vanilla, vinegar, and egg.
2. Whisk in the sugar and brown sugar.
3. Whisk in flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
4. Fold in peanut butter chip and mini marshmallows.
5. Divide the batter between two mugs.  Microwave 60-90 second until the cakes rise and puff out of the mugs.

Holiday Express: Fruitcake

It's amazing that you can live someplace for over 10 years and still learn about new activities you've never heard of.

Such was the case with me and the Coaster Holiday Express.  The Coaster is the Amtrack train that runs along the coast of California.  During one weekend in December, the train runs a special holiday line, a 90 minute round trip ride from Oceanside to Sorrento Valley.  During the trip there's a special Santa visit and some other holiday fun.  Apparently this event happens every year, and sells out within minutes, and yet this is the first time I've heard of it!

Luckily this year I found out in time to snag some of those coveted tickets for our family.   When you arrive, there are some fun photo opportunities to take part in.

And then you line up by car.  They handed out some reindeer games to keep the kids occupied while we waited to board.

And then, car 2 was boarding!

As a word of advice, which we didn't think about, seating is not assigned.  Which means, if you're not early in line, there's a good chance your family will be separated.  We lucked out and grabbed the last 4 seats together.

The train cars are decorated for the trip, festooned with garlands and other festive touches.

Our first visitor were carolers.  They walked up and down the car singing with us.

Someone came around with special paper and pens for the kids to write their letters to Santa.

And then, Anna and Elsa showed up!  While Thatkid was nonplussed, Thatbaby was beyond excited.  As soon as he saw them, he started singing "Love is an Open Door."

They stopped to chat with each child, and when they got to us, they even sang along with Thatbaby.  Which made his whole life.

As soon as the sisters left, Santa showed up!  He wasn't quite as kind or interactive as Anna and Elsa, but Thatbaby was positive he was the REAL Santa.  And both kids eagerly turned their wish lists over to him.

I'm not sure if we'd do this train ride again next year, but for this year, it was perfect for Thatbaby and his excitement over the holiday.  He has been especially cute (which helps him survive because most of the time "destructive" is the more apt description), singing along to every Christmas song he hears, despite not knowing the words.  His holiday favorite this year (despite the fact that he calls every Christmas song his "favorite") seems to be Fruitcake by the Superions, which he loves to sing even when it isn't on.  In fact he asked if we could make fruitcake this year.  And who am I to say no?  Especially when I was pretty sure Alton Brown had a recipe in one of his books.

This fruitcake is different than most of the ones you see in stores, and even the different than the one in the song in that it uses dried fruits instead of "candied cherries, red dye number two, green cherries."   There are a lot of ingredients, and it takes a long time to make, but the process itself is pretty easy.  And there's a lot of down time.

Fruitcake (from Alton Brown)

4 1/2 oz golden raisins

4 oz currants

2 1/2 oz dried cranberries

2 1/2 oz dried blueberries

2 1/2 oz dried cherries

4 oz dried apricots

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

1 1/2 oz candied ginger

1 cup gold rum

4 cloves

6 allspice berries

1/2 cinnamon stick

8 oz sugar

5 oz butter

1 cup apple juice

1 tsp ground ginger

9 oz flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

3 oz pecans

1/4 cup brandy (in a spray bottle)

1.  Combine the fruits, zest, ginger, and rum in a plastic storage container.  Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature.
2. Grind the cloves, allspice, and cinnamon in a coffee grinder or spice mill.
3. Combine the spices, the fruit and its liquid, sugar, butter, apple juice and ginger in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes.
4. Place oven racks in center and bottom of the oven.  Place a roasting pan filled halfway with warm water on the bottom rack.  Preheat oven to 325.  Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
5. Place dry ingredients into the saucepan and stir together with the cooling fruit.
6. One at a time, stir in the eggs.
7. Fold in the pecans
8. Pour the batter into a 10 inch nonstick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.  Remove to a cooling rack and spritz the top with brandy.  Let cool completely.
9. Wrap the cake in cheesecloth.  Spritz with more brandy and store in an air-tight container.  
10. Over the next 2 weeks, check the cake every 2-3 days.  If it's dry, spray with more brandy.   The cake is best the longer it ages, so at least 2 weeks, up to 2 months, then enjoy!