Cowfeathers Farm to Foxcroft Farm: Birthday Party Month- International party.

February is "Birthday Month" here at Cowfeathers, with two of the three kids having a birthday in the same week. It also happens to be "Chinese Auction"month- our huge 4-H fundraiser, the high school "Solo and Ensemble Contest" month with intense practice time and a weekend spent competing, and "Midwest Veterinary Conference" month, my continuing education of choice for 2013- gobbling up another weekend. Factor in one more weekend with both Huz and I working, and "Birthday Month" was not also "Birthday Party Month". March! Let there be March!Aaah, with two of the weekends earmarked for work, one committed to the 4-H Conference and Spring Break dominating a chunk, March looked equally unpromising. April is worse. So, by wedging one party into a Sunday afternoon and the other into the beginning of Spring Break, we are attempting "Birthday Party Month March Addition".
Really, I should try to get Middlest's Birthday Party in here too, as her Birthday falls in the middle of County Fair Week....does anyone hear teeth grinding?

Youngest and Eldest headed out in the morning to put up some Welcome signs. The one on the left is just "Welcome". The one on the right is the same statement in many different languages.

Well, we successfully pulled off Youngest's celebration. He and Eldest are enthusiasts of the "themed" party. Followers of the blog will recognize Youngest's hand in choosing the themes of "Cheese" , "Letterboxing", "Candy", "Football", "Blue" and "Chickens". This year he wanted an "International Food" party. Which I sort of softened to be "International foods, travel, and games."
These parties have a formula of sorts. This formula is based on the birthday parties I had as a child. My Mom was an ace birthday party thrower. I remember hysterically funny and fun field games, and make-your-own-sundae finales. She had a slight advantage, in that my birthday is in July, which makes outdoor parties more possible than February. (Not that we haven't managed. The Letterboxing Birthday Party was outside in sleet for hours in the hills of South Central Ohio, and the food, presents and cake all took place in the back of the minivan- streamers, sparklers et al. Really. No fooling. Pics on this blog. And we had a dance party in the barn for Eldest one Birthday Month.)
In any case, the formula is; games, food, more games, cake, presents, more games. Of these, the games, food and cake try to work within the prescribed theme. I, wisely, enlisted some help from Eldest with the party. She is 18, after all, and completely capable of running the whole thing. She has been well trained, with approximately 43 parties under her belt, having been to each one of our kid's celebrations.

Eldest started the party off with the "Who am I" game. This is a easy way to begin, because all you really need is two people, and then as people arrive they can join right in. On each guest's back is pinned, in this case, a country. Asking "Yes" and "No" questions only, they have to gain enough information to guess the country behind them. One of the guests was a champ at this, and went through several countries, finally getting tripped up by "Argentina".

We had the party food served "tasting" style, with each dish presented by Eldest and Middlest by the name of the dish, and its country of origin. Ireland, New Zealand, France, Holland, Isreal, Turkey, India, Mexico, Greece, America, and, I can't remember how many other countries were represented. Huz was busy plating each dish in the kitchen.

Youngest and I decorated the table with maps, and down the center of the 8' table were travel guides and international "objets". The kids were game, and curiously asked about the origins of most. Youngest filled them with information. I'm thinking that the guest here, on the left, just tasted something not so much to his liking.

One of the games we played was the traditional Mexican Pinata. It was cold. Candy is a great lure. Here, Eldest spins Youngest for his go at the star. Huz is on the end of the rope, getting to pull. He was very generous. The third guest to go broke the star!

The candy spills out!!

Another outdoor game had them traveling to all corners of the "world". Cowfeathers world, anyway. They each had a passport, and they had to follow clues to their destination. When they got to the correct location, there were flags to collect and then they could get their passport stamped. They traveled all over the world! Troopers!

This is Greece. It was located behind the wood piles.

The clue that led them a way out yonder?
"The four winds come from North, South, East, West,
Up and Down are directions, but don't follow them, lest
You end up in the basement, or tree top high!
The next flag is neither-so breathe a big sigh.
Instead this flag is in corner known not just
for where the sun rises...
but also for the origin of Christmas surprises!"

They filled their passports in the freezing weather, and got all rosy cheeked, "Follow the clues, you'll travel, learn something, earn a layered treat for your dues!" This promise of what they thought was cake made them all enthusiastic to finish. We did have one party goer, not used to Cowfeathers parties, wondering what the heck was going on!

The layered treat was not strictly a cake, but our offering from Great Britain; a trifle. This was a turtle trifle, with layers of dark chocolate cake, caramel, whipped cream, and toasted nuts. Happy 12th birthday!