We had a great time this weekend celebrating Danny's 15th B-day. Traditionally, if we would have had all girls we possibly would have been planning a big Quinceanera, but Jerry is thanking his stars he didn't have to. So instead we've somewhat started a family tradition to celebrate the boys 15th b-day with at least an extra special surprise party each that has happened to work out to be themed around something that totally describes who they each are.
For Chris, we surprised him with a music themed party of course, where we rented out a rehearsal room at GC Studios just for him and his friends to jam and hangout. Totally Chris and it totally rocked!
For Danny, we surprised him with an outdoor movie night right in our back yard. The boys had attended a few parties earlier this summer where they had seen this theme and I loved it. I knew this was the perfect for him. If you know Danny, you know that he absolutely is a huge movie buff.
He can tell you when most movies are coming out, premier dates, who the actors are and if they're his favorites then he can even tell you what other movies they've been in. So of course, we started planning.
And the day arrived. We rented a projector and made a very rudimentary screen out of a plain white bed sheet hung up with clothes hangers- it worked people! That's all that mattered. We also had fun getting all the fixin's you would find at the movie theatres including a popcorn machine (with jalapeños no less), popcorn trays from a local theatre, a candy bar, nachos and individually wrapped hot dogs and soda.
Danny was excited to see his best friends were there along with his cousins. Its been nice to see him wanting to connect a lot more with his peers lately, and having them there to celebrate with him was just the best.
Jerry surprised all of us including myself by taking care of setting up a few video clip previews as a way to start off the movie just like they did in the good ol' drive-in days. He included some old Fast food commercials, a classic Disney cartoon, and threw in some really fun Brady Bunch song clips that
we all most of us remembered the words to. Then he showed a movie he had put together of Danny pictures throughout the years that made me laugh, cry and be amazed at just how much our baby has grown up. It was beautiful! Thank you Babe!
And before we actually put the movie selection on for the night- Spiderman 2 (Andrew Garfield version- his favorite!), we sang Happy Birthday and he blew out his candle on the Popcorn bucket cake I attempted to make for him.
I got the idea from a friend (Thank you Karen Wright!) who used it to make the
cutest popcorn cupcakes for her son's movie night so I just expanded the
idea to make a larger size cake. Although it turned out very rustic, He loved it!!
- Baking tip- I used the Pampered Chef batter bowl I've had for years to bake the cake. You can put it in the oven and it gave me a wonderful little dome for the popcorn.
- Decorating tip- the popcorn is made out of cut up marshmallows
and yellow food coloring for the butter effect- so genius right? You spray your kitchen shears with cooking spray to cut through the marshmallows so they don't stick, and you attach them over a layer of frosting. Refrigerate to set the cake.
Anyway, Spiderman 2 turned out to be a pretty good movie and the night turned out to be a success. It was nice to hear our guests express how much fun this had been. This is something that we'll definitely consider doing again next summer just because.
Danny isn't one to say very much, but he was definitely very grateful and thanked everyone individually for coming and celebrating with him. It was an amazing birthday weekend according to him and that's what we were shooting for. I think we this will be a special one we will all remember.
We love you Danny and hope to share many more memorable birthdays with you baby!
From my little corner to yours...Thanks for stopping by!
This past weekend I once again had the privilege to document Shantal's 7th birthday for my dear friend Angie. She's growing up and this year she went with a cute Hello Kitty theme for her birthday as this little girl always knows what she wants. But her party almost got rained out. Almost! You see, for Angie and her family, parties are never cancelled. They happen whether it rains or shines.
I had so much fun doing these pictures. I tried something different and found a style I'd like to work on and perfect with more practice. I love shooting a natural look. I am still trying to figure out what I want from my photography, and I'm hoping this year will be the year I find some consistency and clarity in that. But for now, I will keep practicing and trying new things. 
