Argh - He's 3-1/2 Mateys!

We celebrated Sean's third half birthday this past weekend. The poor kid's birthday falls a few days after Christmas during family gatherings and a focus on the birth of Christ. Thus, we determined early on that we would celebrate his half birthday, to give him a special day all his own.

I can't say it has worked out as we intended. Originally, we planned for him to receive his birthday cake and one gift on his half birthday. Once Trevor caught on to this plan, he clamored to celebrate his half birthday. I don't mind an occasion to bake a cake to their specifications, because that is something I enjoy creating. However, the gift has gone by the wayside. And, many days, I wonder if we should dispense with this whole half birthday effort. Then again, when he is old enough to have birthday parties (Bryce was having annual birthday parties by this age), I'm sure it will be next to impossible to entice friends to celebrate his birthday during that busy and expensive time of year. This year, he was most excited because our annual trip to Indiana Beach Amusement Park fell on his birthday. We had another wonderful experience with limited crowds and fabulous weather.

I love many things about Indiana Beach. Unlike larger parks, where the crowds and chaos exhaust you, Indiana Beach is laid back and relaxing. I so appreciate their smoke-free atmosphere and the music piped over the intercoms is always family friendly. As we rode the sky chairs (Skyride?), I was singing along with "Hey Jude," and "Yesterday."

Side note: the song "Yesterday" always makes me smile because it reminds me of a year at CMI when some guys wrote a spoof on that, called "Leprosy": "Leprosy ... all my skin is falling off of me, I'm not half the man I used to be, oh leprosy has eaten me ... suddenly, all the vultures flying over me, once I had five fingers, now I've three, oh leprosy has eaten me ... why'd it have to come, I don't know, it just won't go. I tried Elmer's glue, but you know, it wouldn't do-oo-oo-oo."

This year seemed far more expensive. Ticket prices have increased, and you don't get as much bang for your buck. We have always enjoyed going one afternoon, playing games and looking around, then staying overnight in a local hotel and returning for a full day of rides and the water park. I think next year, we will just drive up for one day.

The littler boys don't appreciate splitting the two days up into games and rides. The first evening, they wanted to ride rides. We looked into the cost of a mere train ride for the four of us (Bryce had gone off with his friend to play games). You practically had to pick me up off the floor when they said it would be $8 PER PERSON for a train ride. $32 just to ride the train around the amusement park one time. You've got to be kidding.

They used to have a much more customer friendly approach. You could either pay a set fee for a wristband or you could buy a packet of 10 ride tickets for $20. There are smaller rides for the younger children and this seemed fairly reasonable. We would have been willing to pay $8 for the four of us to ride the train once, but $32 - UNREAL!

Needless to say, we waited and enjoyed all the rides the next day, when we purchased the wristbands. Trevor enjoyed riding the Corn Ball Express roller coaster this year and Sean amazed me when he fell in love with the Falling Star ride . He would get off, run around ahead of me, and get back in line to ride it again. What a little daredevil!

Trevor talks about Indiana Beach all year round. This year, he kept inviting all the other kids in his preschool class to go with him to Indiana Beach. He must be their biggest fan. As we headed home, he asked if we could go again this summer. They offer a season pass now, and when the younger boys are older, I might consider that (although, I would want to pack healthy lunches - since there were even fewer healthy options this year).

For Sean's cake, he requested a Jolly Roger cake. I had recently picked up a Jolly Roger flag for a quarter at a garage sale and both boys fell in love with it (they are fixated on skulls these days).

The cake didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but my boys made me feel so much better when they raved about it. I see all the things that didn't go as planned, while they just see a cool cake. It thrilled me that Sean liked it so much.




Here are my perceived flaws: I used the frozen butter cream transfer process I learned on Amber's blog, only I didn't want to attempt to make black icing. For one thing, it never gets black enough and ends up looking like a dull gray. For another thing, it seemed easier to use chocolate store-bought icing for the dark background and homemade butter cream for the skull and crossbones and words.

The transfer ended up being larger than the top of the cake, so the word happy curved over the edge of the top of the cake. Plus, I didn't get it centered very well. When I went to pull the top piece of waxed paper from the frozen frosting, it would not come off. Apparently, the chocolate icing is stickier, even when frozen, than the butter cream. While removing the waxed paper, I pulled apart some bits of the skull. I suppose it makes the skull look more brittle, as skulls are.

Personally, I didn't care for the mix of flavors with the chocolate and the butter cream together. I encountered this with Trevor's dinosaur cake, so this shouldn't have surprised me (or I shouldn't have repeated the mistake). But, John thought the cake was delicious. As for the boys, they only seem to lick the frosting off and barely nibble at the cake.

I can't believe Sean is already 3-1/2. The time evaporates, but inches by on days when they are mischievous or cranky. He thinks he is one of the big boys now. He tries to read, like Trevor, and he tries to talk "like a teenager," like Bryce. I don't mind the reading, but I could do without the teenage talk from the mouth of a preschooler. I say, "Argh, clean up your mouth, little boy, or ye'll be walkin' the plank!"

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For other Indiana Beach posts, see our 2008 visit, our June 2009 visit, our July 2009 visit, our 2011 visit, and our 2016 visit.