My youngest child turned 18 this past weekend. He was born an old, contented soul and has never wanted much so finding the perfect gift for him can be quite challenging. Since 18 is a milestone birthday I wanted to make it a day he would never forget…
He had mentioned a few things he hoped to receive and I incorporated his requests with my own ideas to arrive at 18 numbered balloons that matched an envelope or present. Because he had off from school on Friday he got to sleep late and awoke to this…
Since he had the extra day I designed a three-day celebration which began on Friday evening with Balloon 1 – a visit to the Stardust Drive-in Theatre to see “Jungle Book“.
We dined on freshly made fried chicken sandwiches, burgers, and popcorn while wrapped in blankets against the chill night air. We even saw a shooting star!
The next morning, he opened numbers 2, 3 & 4……
…cards that translated to a stop at Nashville Farmers Market for his favorite Margherita pizza and homemade soda from Bella Nashville …
…followed by a visit to his favorite museum – The Adventure Science Center. Many of the exhibits that he loved as a kindergartner were still open, along with some displays we had never seen that appealed to the little kid inside my new adult.
Card 4 had us finishing the day around our fire pit, making s’mores before heading inside to watch ‘The Hateful Eight‘.
When he woke up on his actual birthday, all my son wanted to do was spend the day talking to relatives from around the world and working up an appetite for his birthday dinner of Caprese salad, corn muffins, sweet white corn on the cob, and his all time favorite food of all….
..homemade babyback ribs! Four racks later he was game to open his remaining presents, which included Project 615’s Guitar Scoreboard T (which I first discovered here), a knife skills cooking class, a 6-pack of personalized Coke bottles, Cards Against Humanity, and The Game of Thrones Board Game. After presents it was time for a 6-layer chocolate ganache cake…
…adorned with this awesome Dragon’s Egg, made by Lulu and Bramble. I stumbled upon her shop while searching Etsy for Game of Thrones cake toppers. It was so beautifully made, with rich detail and colors that I hesitated to put it on the cake. Even better was when the birthday boy cracked open the egg to give birth to a ton of edible sprinkles. It made for the perfect segue to watching the first episode of GoT season 6, and the perfect ending to a great 18th celebration!
The Grey Goddess 