Documenting Delight: Day ninety one {finn's construction themed party}

My little guy turned 4 on Tuesday. Today we held a small party for him and four of his Playschool/Playgroup friends. A bonus for Harper, our resident social butterfly, was that each of Finn’s friends has a younger sibling who also attended the party. Harper acted as though it was her party too (asking me yesterday “Mummy, what time are my friends coming to my party?” and squealing with delight when the first guests arrived this morning). So it was win-win for both my kiddies.  

{Look at how you have grown!}

{worker hard hats for all the kids}

Since Finn was 18 months old he has been enthralled with construction vehicles. The love has never died down, only intensified as the years have gone on. So there was no doubt that this party was going to have a construction theme attached to it. It was a super easy party to plan and gather supplies for. Being a lunchtime party we decided to have a BBQ with just a few sweet treats for the littlies to nibble on prior to their meal. I was pretty strategic about what items I prepared for the dessert table. Anything that had less than four steps to the recipe was immediately selected. The choc-coated marshmallows were a hit with the kids. Super simple to make (push one marshmallow through a cakepop straw, dip in melted chocolate then dip in crushed up Violet Crumble then place on foil and pop in the fridge. It doesn’t get much easier than that!) It was quite hilarious to watch the kids eat one then hover over the remaining marshmallow sticks, waiting for the ok from their parents to dive in again. I am glad that I brought out these sugar sticks after the fruit towers, as I am sure the fruit would have been given the big old cold shoulder otherwise.

{Choc-coated marshmallows}

{Why hello, delicious sugar treat}

{Harper & Eli, standing very still while they munched away}

{Making the most of the Summer fruits remaining in the shops}

{Enjoying lunch in the backyard}

I kept the activities/games pretty low key; diggers and trucks loaded up in the sandpit, wooden blocks for building on a picnic rug and a craft table set up with some nifty road sign/construction foam stickers I found. Pass the parcel was a highlight, if only for all the parents witnessing how much patience their children had to muster up before it was their turn to unwrap a layer. Fellow Documenting Delighter Kate’s daughter Lily was the last to unwrap and boy did she do a top job of waiting. I think it was worth it when it was finally her turn.

{Harper- ripping up a storm in Pass the Parcel}

{Eli's turn. With assistance from his Dad}

{Lily: the wait is over!}

Then there was the cake. The Number 4 from the Woman’s Weekly Children’s Cake Cookbook, although modified from the classic 1970’s version. When Finn selected this cake I was thrilled. It looked easy, not too many ingredients and the decorations didn’t look like they would be too difficult to track down. All good, thanks buddy. The night before his party as I tried to scrape fluoro yellow icing in the tiny little section cut out of the number 4 I realised it wasn’t the dream easy cake I had imagined. There was also that white ready-made icing that involved lots of rolling and cutting to make the grey road. Fiddly, ridiculous stuff. Let’s never speak of that icing again. But like all home decorated cakes, the reward is when your child sees it for the first time. Finn’s reaction was gorgeous, although I could tell he was a bit anxious about his toy construction trucks getting dirty on all that icing. I did promise to wash them up after the party. Crisis averted.

{The cake!}

{Blowing out the candle}

{Mmm it was good.}

It was a perfect Autumn day and Finn was able to celebrate with eight gorgeous friends and their parents. Fun was had and cake was eaten. Hope you enjoyed your party little mate.