Dave and the girls at the crystal mine (see pix below)
Here are Nate's new favorite treats. I handed him a piece of celery because he was dying to get his hands on what we were eating. I figured he wouldn't really be able to get anything off it. He LOVES sucking on it. Then he got into the cucumbers...he has one in each hand and spent a long time sucking away at the insides.
He couldn't find his celery. Where did it go?
Ash made, decorated and created the idea for her cake. I helped a little where she needed it. Her plan: home made carrot cake on the bottom, rainbow chip cake for the next layer (she wanted more flavors for each layer, but I drew the line at 2). This was a shape cake. Bottom layer was rectangle, then heart, then circle, then triangle. She dressed up for her party in a Cinderella dress and black cape...don't ask me about the black cape - no idea. She had a fun birthday party with 6 other little girls. Again, Ash planned everything...from "pin the crystal in the mud" (see lower pictures from where that idea came from), we made a pinata that she painted to look like a lion, musical chairs, etc.
This was Ashlyn's big present...to go crystal mining. Months back, Ash and Sadie were digging in our backyard. I asked what they were doing, and Ash said that she really wanted to find a crystal underground. I wondered if that was possible, so we looked into it. Sure enough, there was a crystal mining quarry only an hour and a half away. We had the best day digging and exploring to find the best crystals. We brought our tools and went to work. The girls were in heaven finding crystals every which way they turned. We came home with about 80.
The crystals need lots of scrubbing and soaking in oxalic acid to get clean and beautiful. Ash handed out crystals as party favors at her party.
Soaking the crystals...
Here are Nate's new favorite treats. I handed him a piece of celery because he was dying to get his hands on what we were eating. I figured he wouldn't really be able to get anything off it. He LOVES sucking on it. Then he got into the cucumbers...he has one in each hand and spent a long time sucking away at the insides.
He couldn't find his celery. Where did it go?
Ash made, decorated and created the idea for her cake. I helped a little where she needed it. Her plan: home made carrot cake on the bottom, rainbow chip cake for the next layer (she wanted more flavors for each layer, but I drew the line at 2). This was a shape cake. Bottom layer was rectangle, then heart, then circle, then triangle. She dressed up for her party in a Cinderella dress and black cape...don't ask me about the black cape - no idea. She had a fun birthday party with 6 other little girls. Again, Ash planned everything...from "pin the crystal in the mud" (see lower pictures from where that idea came from), we made a pinata that she painted to look like a lion, musical chairs, etc.
This was Ashlyn's big present...to go crystal mining. Months back, Ash and Sadie were digging in our backyard. I asked what they were doing, and Ash said that she really wanted to find a crystal underground. I wondered if that was possible, so we looked into it. Sure enough, there was a crystal mining quarry only an hour and a half away. We had the best day digging and exploring to find the best crystals. We brought our tools and went to work. The girls were in heaven finding crystals every which way they turned. We came home with about 80.
The crystals need lots of scrubbing and soaking in oxalic acid to get clean and beautiful. Ash handed out crystals as party favors at her party.
Soaking the crystals...
4 comments:
You are so fun to let them use all of their imagination, all of the time. Cute cute.
What a fun 7 year celebration party. Ashlyn, your cake looks yummy. What a gal ... baker, party planner and crystal miner! I can't believe you all found 80 crystals. I imagine you all learned alot about crystals during the party planning process.
Love the Nate expressions!
Her cake is so fun. She is lucky to have a mom who lets her help out so much. The crystals are awesome, what a cool idea.
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