birthday bowling!

lightning mcqueen, in cake form

remember how steve makes all the kids' birthday cakes? ander's eleventh was no exception - it just happened a few days after our return from peoria & galesburg.

he's gotten pretty good with these, don't you think?

ander thought it was awesome.

 

fantastic parties and how to throw them

artemis impresses me every single year with the birthday parties - invitations and decorations, creativity and cake, guests and games, planning and possibilities - all brought to fruition solely by this remarkable young person whom i've had the distinct honor and privilege to cultivate. to mark the successful conclusion of fourteen years of existence outside my womb, remy threw another epic party, this time based on the movie fantastic beasts and where to find them.

fans of harry potter may be familiar with the occamy:

movie enthusiasts may recognize such significant elements as newt's suitcase with the undetectable extension charm, which was recreated imaginatively within a stairwell:

note the specific book titles, chosen carefully as a nod to harry potter, magical beats, and detection

come and see what is contained herein:

a surprisingly easy-to-spot bowtruckle

a surprisingly un-shy mooncalf

MACUSA's magical exposure threat level device

there were things to do to indulge creative tendencies, like "make-your-own fantastic beast" out of cardstock and tape:

a version of the hedbanz game, highly popular among the tween/teen crowd, using characters and beasts from the movie artistically rendered by artemis:

and a "who's-the-best-niffler" game (adults hid hundreds of plastic gold coins around the first floor of the house, then party people scrambled to collect the most to win the coveted candy bar)

i found it fascinating to see the methods by which each player counted their collected coins

recalling the delights of jacob's bakery (kowalski quality baked goods), we had cinnamon rolls and cheesy naan and little scones and cake. oh, the cake, a delightful and tasty treat baked and constructed by steve (as always) and designed and decorated by artemis, right down to the silvery eggs:

a good time was indeed had by all, as evidenced by the proliferation of dabbing:

happy birthday, artemis.