Logan's "How to Train Your Dragon" Birthday Party

The most requested movie in this household has been "How to Train Your Dragon" lately.  This probably has something to do with the new TV series DreamWorks' "Dragons: Riders of Berk", which is basically a spin off series from the movie.  So, naturally, since Logan rattles off "DreamWorks Dragons Riders of Berk" in one breath whenever TV time looms near, it's not that surprising that he choose a Dragons theme for his birthday party.  There was about a 2 day period when I thought we would be having a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Themed party.  Then, in one hilarious moment, Logan requested a neighborhood of make believe cake with a gronckle (that's one of the dragon species for the uninitiated) on it, prompting Lance to dub it a "How to Train Your Mister Rogers" or "Mister Rogers' Dragons" party, but then dragons won out, and honestly, we had a lot more ideas for the party with the Dragon theme.

I'll start with the food:

First, guests feasted on cheese & crackers, deviled dragon eyes (okay, okay, they're eggs),  Viking Ship crudites (RJ and I made 70 individually designed sails to turn the carrots and strawberries into "Viking Ships"), and Dragon Breath Taco Dip

Then, for dinner...

"Terrible Terror" Drumsticks (in multiple flavors - Honey BBQ, Breaded, Ginger Soy, Buffalo, & Jalapeno Honey BBQ)

"Lava" Soup (Creamy Tomato Soup base with lots of veggies thrown in).  Our guests even unsuspectingly ate minced kale.  Yep, that wasn't parsley.  It even had an unintentional "smokey" flavor thanks to the bottom burning on the reheat.  Doh!  However, since guests were asking how I made it have that smokey flavor, because they liked it that way, I suppose I should have kept that accidental burning a secret.  I liked our friend Lisa's roasting of the vegetables first explanation better!

Sheep Bones to go with the Lava Soup (If you saw the movie, you know that the dragons have to feed the Red Death Dragon that lives in the Volcano, and that they frequently offer said evil dragon Berk's sheep.  Hence, the sheep bones added to the lava.)

Continuing the volcano theme, Mashed Potato Volcanos (with lava cheese sauce)

 Between all the eating, the kids had plenty of Dragon-Themed activities to keep them busy.

The could practice their catapulting skills aiming for the dragons on the mural.

We had dragon coloring pages and they could paint their own cardboard shields (not pictured).

They could toss Toothless bean bag fish (Artist credit goes to Lance for drawing toothless for me to paint).

The kids could also assemble their own dragons from painted toilet paper rolls and pre-cut dragon heads, wings, tails, and legs made from foam sheets.

We also handed out their favors early in the party so that they could run around as dragons before taking them home.  They could choose from 3 different designs - Toothless (Night Fury), Stormfly (Deadly Nadder), or Meatlug (Gronckle).

RJ modeling the Toothless prototype

 

Logan modeling the Gronckle prototype

We also handed out the viking helmets made from duct-tape wrapped cardboard, so there were lots of dragon-viking hybrids running around!

Logan wanted a Gronckle cake, so I made my first foray into the world of fondant with homemade marshmallow fondant to make the cake look like a Gronckle.  It was all chocolate with chocolate buttercream filling inside, as per Logan's request for a chocolate cake.  We also served some chocolate "Gronckle egg" cake pops, which were vegan for those that couldn't eat eggs!

I think Logan was happy with it!

He loved blowing out the candles, which we appropriately placed sticking out of  the Gronckle's mouth  - making him a fire-breathing dragon!

 We all had a wonderful time at Logan's party and were grateful that so many of Logan's friends could make it to the party (even though we had to postpone it by a week because Lance was out of town).

More pictures here.