A day in the life: Samuel turns 3, Rebecca turns 4

A few weeks back we celebrated Samuel's 3rd birthday with a shared party, also celebrating Rebecca's 4th birthday. It was essential to get all the partying in on the same weekend, as The Maker Fair was the succeeding weekend, and it made sense to combine the celebrations, as Samuel's and Rebecca's birthdays are only a few days apart, and we share a very similar invite list.

When asked what type of cake Samuel wanted, he responded "Strawberry". I asked if he wanted strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, like the previous year, and his response was, "No, I want strawberries." Strawberry Cake? "No, just strawberries."

The result? I made a tart dough (yes, it's whole wheat, but it does have some, gasp!, sugar in it) and stuck a bunch of strawberries on top. The recipe was Deborah Madison's, and for future notice, it was much better a few hours later, when the jam had time to sink into the crust. It was excellent for breakfast the next day...

Rebecca's cake request? Ice Cream.

Which, it probably goes without saying, was a much bigger hit than my tart with the kids. But, hey, I was just doing what was asked. (That said, the two flats of strawberries were gone by the end of the party, so I guess when Samuel said "Just Strawberries", I shouldn't have tried to elaborate on it.)

Rebecca's theme was Robots:

And Samuel requested a frog pinata, so I guess our them was frogs...

What part of handing a 3 year old a baseball bat (or wooden stick) with a crowd gathered very close by, and telling them to whack a swinging object sounds like a good idea? Sure caused me more stress than pleasure, but boy did the kids fight over who went next...