Photos by Sharma Podila
Besides scrounging e-bay for archeological themed favors and decorations I ran across a post on Craigslist. His name was Dustin, and this was his ad "Indiana Jones! At your Store or event !!!!" I mean, come on...what are the chances, right? Indiana Jones lives in my backyard? And he's for hire? I contacted Dustin right away, and he got back to me promptly. He was very professional and easy going (even when it rained on the day of our event and everything got moved to our hideously disorganized garage!). He arrived with his partner, and the two of them put on a FANTASTIC adventure complete with life-size props and stunts! The kids went wild over the show. After the skit, Indiana and Elizabeth Sweet stayed in character and took the kids on a treasure hunt around the house (it was raining else we'd have done it at the park), and played some games. It was a day my son will never forget :0) He still asks if Indiana Jones will come back looking for his idol.
Dustin has a company called DeadmanFX up in Marin County. He's a stuntman who spent time down in LA working in movie industry. He now runs a company that specializes in cast molds and special effect artistry here. He also does a very convincing Indiana Jones, complete with whip demonstrations. The kids went gaga...so did quite a few of the moms ;0)
Per Matthew's request, his birthday gift was a Flip MinoHD. He said he wanted to make movies of himself on tv (we have hours of him bouncing around with a light saber finding treasures meant for museums, and lengthy clips of his Lego creations). In a lot of ways though, this was a gift for myself (shhh, he still thinks it's all his!). I've enjoyed shooting video of the kids, and documenting their cute sayings and new accomplishments. I also appreciate how EASY it is to use! So here's a little movie of the birthday using his (my) new Flip. I editied using iMovie.Flipping Indiana Jones from Bay Area Baby Blog on Vimeo.
When our son turned 7 he asked for a Ratatouille Party. I highly suspected most kids his age wouldn't want a bowl full of eggplant - I could be wrong, though! So we went with a Pizza party at Young Chefs' Academy in Sunnyvale. Chefs' Academy is a cooking school that is equipped with kid sized tables, cooking utensils/hardware, and great teachers.
When the kids came in they were given a chef hat to design. We had the soundtrack from the movie playing the background, and a Wisconsin Cheese hat as a decorative centerpiece. Then the real work began...the kids started by washing their hands (my MIL teaches nutrition - this is a very important first step!). Then they were taught how to make pizza dough. The kids were able to roll out their dough and add the toppings they liked. I was shocked how many kids tried adding things most wouldn't expect a kid to eat: olives, mushrooms, onions, etc. While the pizzas were baking the kids played some games, and the adults partook in the appetizers I brought for them. When pizzas were finished the kids got to cut up their pizzas with pizza wheels, and then ate some very yummy ice cream cake :0)
