Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A Ranger's Apprentice Birthday Party

This past Saturday Ranger turned thirteen! It's so hard to believe that we now have two teens in our home and we are only eighteen short months away from three teens… Unfortunately I just can't seem to find the pause button on their childhood and they are going to grow up whether I like it or not. I'm not ready for this!!! ;)

This year the birthday boy requested a "Ranger's Apprentice party theme and lemon cake." Lemon didn't exactly go with the decorations I had planned for the cake so he actually ended up getting two birthday cakes this year! The chocolate candy covered Archery Target Cake and lemon "Castle Redmont" cake which I simply baked in a castle shaped bundt pan and dusted with powdered sugar. The boys provided me with a minifigure to represent Will, the main character from the Ranger's Apprentice series.  It was perfect!  

"Even though the circumstances were unusual, he had given permission for Will to be accepted as a ward of Castle Redmont."

Everyone, including Ranger, loved the cakes when they woke up and discovered them in the morning. Along with the cake I had a coffee/hot cocoa bar with fruit and pastries set up for breakfast, since all Rangers drink coffee.

Other than the cake(s) and themed food for the day, I didn't have time to plan any games or decorations. He didn't mind, what he really wanted was for the whole family (including mom!) to come and watch their hockey games, so that is what we did (even my parents and one of my sisters showed up to watch!) and the boys won their games! ❤


.: Rangers' Coffee Bar and Master Chubb's Sweet Cakes:.

Learn how to drink coffee, sweeten it with honey if you must. 
~ Do's and Don't for Rangers in Training

"He can climb, all right. I remember when he climbed up a drainpipe into my kitchen and stole a tray of sweet cakes that were cooling on the windowsill."  

.: Wild Boar Bacon Bites :.

"Halt's heavy-shafted, long arrow was almost buried in it's side, driven there by the full power of the Ranger's mighty longbow. He'd struck the charging monster right behind the left shoulder, driving the head of the arrow into and through the pig's massive heart. A perfect shot."

I used this recipe. They didn't last long!

.:  Will's Flaming Arrows :. 

"Will watched, horrified. A thought was forming, an idea was lurking somewhere at the edge of his mind. He looked to one side, saw the flickering torch that Baron Arald has discarded. Fire. The one weapon that could defeat the Kalkara. But he was forty meters away...”

"He  whipped an arrow from his quiver, slipping from the saddle and running lightly to the flickering torch. A good supply of sticky, melted pitch had run down the handle of the torch and he quickly rolled the arrowhead in the soft, clinging stuff, forming a huge goblet of it on the arrow. Then he placed it in the flame until it flared to life."

These were so easy to make using the same technique from our Lone Ranger Campfire Cake for making the flames.

“Will brought the arrow back to full draw, wincing at the pain as the flames singed against his bow hand. He raised his aim point a little to allow for the extra weight of the pitch, and released.”

.: Apprentice Oak Leaf Chocolates :.

"Later that afternoon, after all the noise and celebrations had died down, Will sat alone on the tiny verandah of Halt's small cottage. In his hand he held a small bronze amulet, shaped like an oak lac, with a steel chain threaded through a ring at the top. "It's our symbol," his teacher had explained as he handed it to him after the events at the castle. "The Rangers' equivalent of a coat of arms.""
Oak Leaves Candy Mold and Peanut Butter Candy Melts

"Bronze is the apprentice color," Halt told him. When you finish your learning, you'll receive a silver oak leaf like this one. We all wear them in the Ranger Corps, either silver or bronze."

.: Tug's Apple Cider :.

"Tug's ears shot up. He liked apples. He also thought he liked this boy-he played this game well. Tossing his head approvingly, he trotted forward and took the apple delicately. Will seized hold of the bridle and the pony crunched the apple. If a horse could be said to look blissful, this one did.”

.:  Ranger's Stew :.

Organic Carrots of Many Colors and Baby Potatoes

"He led the way to the kitchen and introduced Will to the mysteries of cooking: peeling and chopping onions, choosing a piece of beef from the meat safe, trimming it and cutting it into neat cubes, then chopping vegetables, searing the beef in a sizzling pan, and finally adding a generous dash of red wine and some of what Halt called his "secret ingredients." The result was a savory-smelling stew, simmering on the top of the stove."

.: Birthday Cake :.

"As they rode through the crisp, white snow, their horses' hooves making only the smallest of sounds, Halt had been pointing to disturbances in the even white cover. They were tracks left by animals and it was Will's task to identify them."

*All quotes are from Ranger's Apprentice, Book 1, The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

.: Birthday Gifts :.

Ranger's siblings all surprised him with 13 of the new Series 13 Minifigures for his 13th birthday! Twinkle Toes also gave him the Archer Minifigure from Series 3 (like this one) and Captain gave him the Epic Perplexus we found on clearance after Christmas.  He also received cards/gifts from both sets of Grandparents. 

His dad and I gave him the remaining four books needed to complete the boys' Ranger's Apprentice collection of hardcover editions, The Lonely Mountain Lego Hobbit set (way overpriced at the moment, I actually purchased it before Christmas and it came with a poster)...

The Lincoln Memorial Architecture Lego set, The United States Capitol Metal Earth, a backpack (he's been needing one for when he meets with his tutor), and some Milk Chocolate Smashing S'mores. 

Happy 13th Birthday Ranger!