Pirate Parties, Birthday boobies, and Spring has Sprung!

So I've already broken one of my New Years Resolutions - writing a little bit everyday. I haven't posted in weeks! And not because things haven't been happening, but because possibly too much has been happening! Two birthday parties (with cakes made by yours truly), a trip to Scotland, getting the flu, and just trying to get back into the swing of things in time for Spring.

 

Captain Patrick blowing out the candles on his cake.

 The second weekend in February saw us celebrating Patrick's 5th birthday, complete with an epic, pulling out all the stops, pirate themed birthday party. We turned the living room couch into a pirate ship (with the help of several white cotton sheets), the kitchen into "the galley," and we even had a plank for traitors outside!

Patrick's Pirate Cake!

I made Patrick's cake, and for my first time using fondant, I have to say it turned out extremely well! Oh, and it was also my first time baking a gluten-free chocolate cake, so extra points for that.

Fancy dress not optional.

 It ended up being me (complete with eyeliner facial hair), Anny and Padraig, and Padraig's mom Kathleen, and thirteen kids aged 1 to 8. Talk about a longggg day. We had pizza and gluten-free sausages, lots and lots of chips and crisps, cookies, candies, and cake and three extremely exhausted babies at the end of the day. I have to say the highlight of my day (other than painting beards and goatees on 4 year olds) was having a three year boy run into my arms with his hands full of bubbles and ending up with more bubbles on the two of us than in the air :)

The Scott Monument in Edinburgh.

 The week following Patrick's birthday was my trip to Edinburgh with several of the au pairs, Nicole, Valerie, Kat, Isabella, and Lara. We flew out early Tuesday morning (and I mean like 4am early), and spent the first day getting to know the city. Our free three hour walking tour was seriously one of the best site-seeing tours I've ever been on! Our tour guide Billy was an adorable Scotsman who had been giving tours for three years and he was a veritable fountain of useless facts and trivia (my kinda man :))

L: Deep fried Snickers. R: Deep fried Mars Bar.

Nicole, Isabella, and I then visited the Dungeons, a sort of haunted house tour about William Hare and William Burke, Scotland's notorious first serial killers. I laughed, I screamed, I took a horrible picture with three chins at the end. Wednesday was more calm - a tour of Mary King's Close in the underground ruins of Old Edinburgh and dinner at the Elephant House Cafe, known as the cafe where JK Rowling famously penned most of the amazing first Harry Potter book.

The gardens

Thursday was chill - Nicole and I broke off from the pack and explored parts of new Edinburgh for most of the morning (there's a sweet shop named Honeydukes), and then back to old Edinburgh and the Royal Mile to hear the 1PM gunshot at Edinburgh Castle. The only damper on the trip was an unexpected emergence of the flu, which I refused to let dampen my spirits. One must always press on in search of adventure :)

Selfies at Edinburgh Castle!

After flying home (AKA sunny ol' Ireland), the flu fully reared his ugly head and I spent several days lying on the Gorman's living room couch drinking herbal tea and eating crackers. Glad to be over than hurdle, POR FIN! It's been vitamins and herbal supplements NONSTOP.

Happy 83rd Birthday Nana Lily!

 As March hit, so did Nana Lily's 83rd birthday, and we had to create a very special cake to commemorate such a momentous birthday - "Tits your Birthday!" Almond cake with an Amaretto Buttercream filling, covered in fondant to create the tastiest pair of Double D's this side of the Atlantic! After dinner and cake, we dropped Nana Lily off at the Daycare Center for an elderly dance - Anny did her make-up and the workers got her a birthday cake for the dance. It was white hair and comfy shoes galore and I loved being included in making Lily's day special.

She has the wickedest sense of humor.

Now I'm just working on getting back into the swing of things - Monday night meeting with the girls, Wednesday movie nights, 10K runs, cooking and baking abound...it's going to be a very busy March. April will be here before I know it, and that means some very special visitors...

Patrick and his dandelion.

That's right, the Butcher family is coming to Ireland!! I'm expecting a huge reunion either at the end of April or beginning of May. Galway, Cork, Dublin, site-seeing, B&B's. I CANNOT wait to see my family (who I've been missing something terrible) and I can't wait to show them around the beautiful country that I've been falling in love with! :)