More Birthdays in the Caravan!

So we’ve had one set of birthdays in the caravan, it’s time for the other set!  We’ve been in the caravan long enough now that each of us has celebrated a birthday while we’ve been living in it.  LadyBug turned six while we were in Kununurra!  That lovely purple camping chair was one of her presents.  She had long outgrown the little kiddie-sized one she’d had until now.  Her hair was wet because she’d gone for a swim while I wrapped her presents and decorated the van.

Like many 6yo girls she is a Frozen fan and had been asking for a nightgown for awhile.  (Nice photobomb, JitterBug! He looks deep in thought, he must be contemplating why boys don’t get to wear nightgowns.)

LadyBug had great fun making her birthday cake.  Pink icing and sprinkles galore.  She already had all the little ponies, we only had to add some colourful candles.

It was much less stressful for me, too.  She did the  icing and then I helped her with the bits of cake that weren’t covered.  Then I turned her loose with the sprinkles.  She decided where to place all the ponies and candles.  She loved decorating it, and I loved that she loved it!

Somehow we started this cupcake tradition this year.  It started with JitterBug’s minion cupcakes which I’d done just in case his cake hadn’t turned out.  Since everything has to be perfectly fair among siblings that meant making cupcakes for all of them.  LadyBug shared hers with some new friends and was thrilled when they sang happy birthday to her.

Can’t believe my girl is six!

A few days later it was SkeeterBug’s turn.  He turned eleven while we were in Kununurra.  We stayed a couple of days longer so that we wouldn’t be travelling on his birthday.

He only had a couple of presents because one was a big one (in a small package).

He got to do the make-your-own-cake thing too.  Kit-kats and m&m’s galore!  I had to hold myself back from trying to make it look perfect and just let him have fun with it.  He did enjoy making it and I’m glad he had such fun, who wouldn’t with all that chocolate!  He had cupcakes too, I can’t find any pictures of them.

Can’t believe my kiddo is eleven!  I think that’s officially pre-teen, isn’t it?  Ack!

After all these birthdays it was time to move on from hot, hot Kununurra and head toward the coast again.  We were very much looking forward to some ocean breezes. 

Birthdays in the Caravan!

All the birthdays in our family fall in the second half of the year.  The first three birthdays are weeks apart. TurboBug was up first, turning two.  We were on the Sunshine Coast for his birthday.  We did our best to make the day special for him.  We decorated the caravan while Dad took him for a walk.  We know how much 2yo’s love balloons, so we surprised him with plenty of balloons to play with when he returned.

Look at that photobomb!  A new book, ‘Who Sank the Boat?’.  See the red shirt he’s got on?  That was a new Thomas the Train shirt and he wanted to wear it immediately!

Another photobomb and a new stuffed wombat.  Every souvenir shop we would go to it seemed that TurboBug would latch onto the stuffed wombats.  One memorable time in Tasmania he was quite upset at having to put it back on the shelf.  So it seemed like the perfect gift.  It’s not quite as important to him as his bear, though.

His new truck.  This was worth climbing on the table for.

A train cake for my train-loving boy. 

A couple of very loooooooooong weeks later, we celebrated JitterBug’s eighth birthday.  He could barely wait, he was so excited.  We’d been telling him for ages that for his next birthday we’d be at the top of Australia somewhere.  We ended up celebrating his birthday while we were in Cooktown.

TurboBug did not understand why he didn’t get to open JitterBug’s presents.  Last time we had presents they were all for him to open!

My boys are sooo into Star Wars.  Now they’ve made the various characters into Hot Wheels.  I can’t believe they didn’t think of this decades ago.  This is one of JitterBug’s favourite characters.  He also got some new Lego Technic sets.

I was happy when he said he wanted a minion cake.  That I could do!  I didn’t bring cake decorating supplies with me so my cake abilities are limited right now.  But a minion I knew we could figure out how to do.  We made it to match his lovely minion, he was happy with it.

We even did the banana-flavoured cupcakes that come in a kit from the supermarket.  They tasted better than we thought they would!  They were my backup in case of a cake fail.  :)

Then a couple of weeks later it was Dad’s turn.  He was turning, um, another year older.

The kids very much enjoyed helping with the brownies we made for him.

C’mon Dad, give us a proper smile.

That’s better.

The anticipation on TurboBug’s face.  Brownies with chocolate frosting?  With ice cream?  Yes, please.

That’s half of us down, half to go!