Two

There has been great excitement in the Parker home this weekend, with Joel turning TWO!

Of course, a birthday celebration takes a bit of preparation! Joel and his toddler friends from our Dodoma Friday morning Tots + Mums group were getting together in our garden to celebrate Joel's birthday with a Teddy Bear's Picnic. 

Early on Friday morning, after waving Ben and Esther off for school at 7:15, I donned my apron, turned on the computer to "google" Teddy Bear Cake images and then set to work transforming the rectangular cake I'd made on Thursday into a teddy-bear shape.

Being somewhat less than artistic (some may say artistically-challenged!), creating cake shapes and icing them is always a little stressful for me! However, with the help of paper templates, a pencil, scissors, a sharp knife and some very gooey icing, Joel and I managed to follow the below procedure and come up with a teddy-ish cake for his morning picnic!

 

 

 

Joel seemed to like the finished product! We even found some teddy-shaped biscuits to add to the party-picnic!

The picnic, complete with teddies, was fun for all:

Two candles on the teddy-cake were blown out by the birthday boy and the cake was cut...

As I mentioned previously, the icing I'd made was rather gooey! It tasted good, but it seems rather a lot of it ended up on Joel's face, T-shirt and shorts!! But what's a birthday without proof of chocolate indulgence?? 

After food, it was time to play! Joel and his 5 guests certainly enjoyed themselves, getting into the party-picnic spirit on our climbing frame and by the sandpit!

It must be so much fun to be two, if Joel and his friends are anything to go by! (I wish I could remember that far back!!).