Category Archives: Home on the Beach

He’s Not A Baby Anymore

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I didn’t realise that Zo was having a birthday party too, until he told me all about it. How he got the idea for an Alien Brithday party is anyone’s guess, I’m sure I’m clueless about the source of his inspiration but I do admire his style. Ever obliging Daddo whipped up Mister Alien Piñata as seen here, and we enlisted our regular crew of Small to beat the stuffing out of it.

Prepare to esplode, spaceman!

There was no way I was having 16 kids in the house again so soon after Orlando’s Epic 6, so we went with Quality Madness over Quantity.

I’m really getting into the swing of multi-food-preference/allergy birthday cakes, and lucky for me Zo wanted a Lamington Lollipop Birthday Train, which was super easy to dream up. A good thing too, as with my SALA opening the day before all my prep time had gone into that instead of cake making. No such thing as too busy in this house.

Combination vegan and gluten free lamington train cake

Some of the carriages were the magical Very Vanilla Vegan Cupcake recipie, covered with cocoa and coconut in the traditional lamington way, then scooped out and filled with nuts or dried fruit. For the gluten free carriages I baked orange friands and gave them the same lamingtony treatment. These were stuffed full of LOLLIES. Because lollies. Quite.

Happy Birthday Little Dude xxx

6 knows how to stand on It’s head

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Six today! Epic birthday party last Sunday, Master Orlando is still a passionate Lover Of Birds, and this includes not only all of our feathered friends ( most especially owls and penguins), but also the digital Angry Bird variety. This years request was for a Bird Party. -_- how does one Bird Party? With lots of help from the internet.
Daddo had the games under control ( described below) so I was Cake Maestro again this year. To facilitate the enjoyment of the maximum number of party guests and their dietary foibles, we decided upon a cake made from cupcakes, all dressed up to look like birds in a tree. That way we can accommodate the vegans, the gluten intolerant and this year a new request – no salicylate.

I borrowed heavily from Internet recipes – most of the cupcakes are extremely delicious Very Vanilla vegan cupcakes, some of which I completely un-vegan-ed by turning into rainbow cake. We did have a small oven mishap when the over-full muffin pans became small rainbow volcanos- pretty and funny.
Decorating the cupcakes was part virtuoso, and part Nerdy Nummies. The vegan quota were decorated with Oreos, nuts and dried fruit. You see the big red cupcake with yellow eyes? Middleish, leftish, top? That’s our special salicylate free bird, made from a corella pear with cheese eyes. It was a hoot 😉

The piece de resistance of the bird party was without a doubt the Bomb Bird Piñata, made by all three boys over the two weeks leading up to the party, with lots of help from El Piñata King.
It exploded in a glorious shower of lollies, Lego mini-figurines and home made confetti, which our 15 guests pounced upon “like lions in the Serengeti”.

A close second to the awesomeness of the piñata was the Live Action Angry Birds game, which also came compliments of the Internet, and was more excitement than anyone was prepared for.

Going Up?

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My boys are my favourite collaborators, but working with old friends and their mad skillz is also up there on the list. Check out what Karen and the boys and I were able to make together, even though she’s in London and we’re back home on the beach.

This looping video is the welcome & soundtrack to the Instant Perspective Machine – on for another 3 weeks until the 16th of December 2012 at the Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia Project Space. Check it out & make art with me!

Big Guy is 5

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Happy 5th Birthday Orlando! For me it’s hard to reconcile that 5 years have passed already since we brought that starry eyed little love home from the hospital, but after a brief conversation with Himself sometimes it’s more perplexing that he isn’t much older. Orlando is a practical little gentleman, thoughtful and sincere, as well as being capable of Maximum Silly.

For example, I was distressed in the week(s) leading up to going to New York. How was I going to leave my babies? I was teary and a bit maudlin until Orlando gave me a little pep talk one morning as we were getting ready to go to school. He explained that they would be ok at home with Daddo, and that I should be sure to not forget about them, to Skype often, and most importantly to get New York City all ready for their arrival in July. Well! If he was going to be so reasonable about everything, who was I to quibble?

Om nom nom

One thing I was not going to miss out on though, was the Big 5 Party. We held it a few weeks early and, at Orlando’s request, the celebrations were held at our house. If you were anything like me as a small person, one of the most fun parts of an impending birthday is picking out what kind of cake you’ll have. This year it had to be a red ladybird. Evil Aunty Delana was most enthusiastic about assisting with the decorating – we made a ladybird and her magical garden! The ladybird body was strawberry cake ( bug guts! ) and the head and little garden mounds were vegan carrot cake. Something for everyone. Most of the kids wanted the carrot cake, but maybe that had more to do with me calling the cake “bug guts”?

Orlando’s Ladybird Garden Birthday Cake

For games we played Pin The Tail on the Pikachu, we ate doughnuts hanging by strings from the washing line ( no hands! ), played Pass The Parcel (what’s with the prize on every layer thing? I don’t think it improves the game) and of course there was a mighty Treasure Hunt in the garden – which we’ve made into a very fun place for small people.

Treasure hunting

Delana made little sculpey creatures for our guests to take home, tied to their helium balloon party favours. I love home birthday parties! Especially when Orlando has such superlative taste in friends – what a great bunch of funny little loves.

Today is Orlando’s for real birthday and I don’t mind admitting to you that I’m having a hard time being on my own on the other side of the planet. 15 more sleeps until I can cuddle my wee wonders again. I don’t know if New York is ready for you, big guy, but come on over. They’re going to love you.