Willy Wonka Birthday

Who can take a birthday, sprinkle it with dew
Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two
The Candy Man can - cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.

New family tradition - bi-annual birthday parties. Last year's parties were just so good, and so much work, that this year we took a break.

Last year G's 9th birthday was a lumberjack party. We sharpened the axe and 9 of his friends took turns swinging at a tree until we finally felled it. We tapped the maple trees, came in for a reading of Farmer Boy, then ate some of Almanzo's favourite foods - fried apple & onions, stacked pancakes, home-made apple cider. Every guest was given a pair of orange workgloves as the take-home present. "Best party ever" was heard.

Z's 7th birthday was a volcano theme. We made playdough volcanoes with a jar of baking soda & food dye in the middle, then dropped in vinegar to make it explode. Outside, they took turns digging dirt into a huge pile, then stuck a 2 litre diet Coke into it, added Menthos and watched it erupt high into the air. Then inside for a volcano-shaped cake and crazy story about a Tofino lava-surfer. "Best party ever" again uttered.

Cost of both parties - $40, and a huge huge amount of energy and stress and enjoyment and lifetime memories.

This year, birthdays are being celebrated with a family outing somewhere special, with one special friend. Galen took us to the Nutcracker ballet, which our family has long wanted to see anyways. Tonight Zekiah took us to the highschool production of Willy Wonka. Both boys feel well-celebrated.

It actually cost us alot more money, but ballet and the local high school are both good investments in our books. Preparation was little more than buying tickets online and calling a friend. No stress about who to invite or exclude, worry about who might not make it, what presents will be received, what kind of cake to bake for the myriad allergies and preferences. Just family celebrating the birth of our family together.

I love huge birthday theme parties and can't wait to create them again next year. But for this year, we found our own Peaceful magic and held our birthday boys close. For as Willy himself says, "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."