11th Birthday Extravaganza!

Happy Birthday to my Sloane!!

I cannot believe my baby is 11!!  How did this happen?  Where did the time go?  So, although Sloane's birthday is today, we celebrated with six of her friends this past weekend.  The girl's all do a half day of school on Fridays, and this past Friday happened to be my day off.
The weather is absolutely spectacular for the middle of September, and is almost warmer than we've had all summer!  I wanted to take the girls swimming as part of the Birthday celebrations, but unfortunately all the city run pools and spray parks close after Labour Day!  Major bummer! And with the wrath of the June floods, many of our usual swimming holes no longer exist! I decided it would be worth the drive to be able to swim, and burn off (some) of their energy.  So I picked up the girls from school, and we headed out to Ghost Lake, out past Cochrane Alberta, about an hours drive from home, but totally worth it.  They had a blast! 

When I asked Sloane what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she said she wanted and an ice cream cake, which meant a DQ cake...I could make any cake she could dream of, so of course she would choose something store bought! I tried not to take it personally, it's the age she's at.  I don't buy cakes.  I suggested a build your own sundae bar, and she was all over it!  Yay!  "But no fruit, or healthy stuff, k?".  So I purchased a huge 4 litre pail of ice cream, waffle bowls, and gave them syrups, sprinkles, smarties, cupcake goldfish, gummie worms, marshmallows, and marshmallow fluff, as options for toppings.   They went wild!  Many of the girls put so much stuff on their sundaes, they became almost inedible!  But when I was their age, I probably would've done the same thing!

They we're up til all hours watching movie, and making their own Harlem Shake videos, doing make up, and giggling the night away!  Birthday Success!    

One other birthday treat I made was this Cake Batter Popcorn!  Soooooo good!  The girls even put it on their sundaes!  It is incredibly addicting!  I think it will be making a return to our home soon, birthday party or not!

Cake Batter Popcorn

Recipe adapted from: Erica's Sweet Tooth

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1 cup white chocolate chips 
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup rainbow bit cake mix
1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles

I use a air-popper for my popcorn, and then do my best to remove any unpopped kernels.  My technique is to use two bowls, shake the the first bowl so the seeds fall to the bottom, and then transfer popcorn to the second bowl by hand, leaving all the kernels behind.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.   
In a small pot, melt coconut oil, and white chocolate chips (or you could also do this step in the microwave). Add the cake mix to the melted chocolate mixture, it will be thick - and that's okay!Spread popped popcorn out on parchment lined sheet, and pour the batter mixture over top, also add about half of sprinkles.  Use a wooden spoon, or your fingers, and do your best to distribute.  Spread out evenly, and top with the remainder of sprinkles and allow to harden, about 20 minutes at room temperature  or 5- 10 minutes in the fridge. 

Enjoy!