FAMILY WEEKLY UPDATE: 20th – 26th April | Super Mario Birthday Party Prep & Gabby’s Dollhouse Live

Family Weekly Update

This week was such a busy one as we celebrated both Leo’s birthday and my mum’s birthday, so most of the week ended up revolving around party prep, baking, crafting and family celebrations.

Leo had asked for a Super Mario themed birthday party this year, so I spent a huge amount of time creating decorations, themed treats and personalised party bits to make it really special for him.

Here’s everything we got up to this week.

🎬 Editing, Birthday Shopping & Late-Night KFC

Monday started with some editing as I spent the morning working on YouTube videos and wrapping Leo’s birthday presents.

Later that evening, my dad took me to ASDA to pick up everything I needed to make Leo’s birthday cake. I also ended up finding a few last-minute birthday presents for him because loads of the Claire’s Accessories items had been reduced to just £1.

I managed to pick up a Pikachu backpack and a matching Pikachu water bottle for £1 each, which felt like such a bargain. The backpack was supposed to include stationery, but even without it I still thought it was an amazing deal.

I also bought him a Super Mario Shake Tower game for around £20.

By the time we finished shopping it was getting quite late, so on the way home we stopped at KFC for dinner before heading home.

🎂 Mario Birthday Cake & Party Prep Begins

Tuesday was all about birthday prep.

I started making Leo’s birthday cake, which was a two-tier Mario-themed cake with an 8-inch Madeira cake on the bottom tier and a 6-inch Madeira cake on top.

I layered both cakes with buttercream and strawberry jam before giving them a buttercream crumb coat and leaving them in the fridge overnight ready to decorate the next day.

While the cakes were chilling, I made some Super Mario themed shortbread biscuits using cookie cutters shaped like Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Bowser, Princess Peach and Toad.

Once cut out, I chilled the biscuits in the fridge before baking them, which helps them keep their shape better.

I also made a batch of vanilla cupcakes and started working on Leo’s piñata, which he wanted to look like one of the yellow question mark blocks from the Mario games.

By the end of the day, the kitchen looked like complete chaos, but it felt good getting so much done.

✂️ Cricut Crafts, Party Decorations & Feeling Run Down

By Wednesday, I’d developed quite a bad cold and was feeling really run down, which honestly wasn’t ideal with still so much left to do before the party.

As I wasn’t feeling great, I decided not to work on the food that day and instead focused on some of the Cricut projects and decorations.

Making personalised birthday T-shirts has become a bit of a tradition for the kids’ birthdays now, so I started by designing Leo’s Mario birthday T-shirt in Photoshop before cutting it out using my Cricut machine and pressing it onto the shirt with my heat press.

I then designed his birthday banner using a font similar to the Super Mario logo before cutting all the letters out and assembling it together.

After that, I finished the piñata by adding the question marks and hanging string, before moving on to making party bag extras including Mario and Luigi slap bands, personalised pens and sticker sheets.

It ended up being one of those days where I spent hours crafting and creating things, but I was really happy with how everything turned out.

🍄 Decorating the Cake & Making Party Treats

Thursday was another full day of party prep.

I started the morning by decorating Leo’s birthday cake, covering it in blue fondant before adding edible images, fondant characters and little background decorations.

Once the cake was finished, I moved on to decorating the cupcakes.

Some had blue buttercream and sprinkles, while others featured edible toppers with Mario characters and “Happy 7th Birthday Leo” printed onto them using my edible printer.

I then made star-shaped Rice Krispie treats, Mario hat treats, chocolate-covered breadsticks and chocolate lollies.

Everything looked so colourful and fun once it was all finished.

🎉 Leo’s 7th Birthday Party

Friday was finally Leo’s birthday 🎂🍄

While he was at school, Lawrence and I spent the day getting everything ready for the party.

I wrapped the last few presents that had arrived late, while Lawrence focused on putting up streamers and balloons.

Meanwhile, I worked on the party bags and created a Pin the Moustache on Mario game.

Once everything was ready, I filled the helium balloons and set out Leo’s presents ready for when he got home.

He was so excited when he walked through the door and saw everything set up for him, and he absolutely loved the birthday T-shirt I had made.

We then sat down together while Leo opened all of his presents, which was such a lovely moment to watch. He was so excited about everything he got, and it was really nice seeing both him and Alice playing together with all the new toys afterwards.

While the children played, I got started on the party food.

I made chicken and chorizo skewers, potato wedges, chicken goujons, sausage rolls, pizza, cheesy garlic bread and fruit skewers designed to look like Mario piranha plants using grapes and strawberries.

Once the guests arrived, Leo opened more presents before we all tucked into the food.

Afterwards, we played lots of party games including:

❓ The question mark block piñata

🪙 Find the coin game

🎁 Pass the parcel

👨 Pin the Moustache on Mario

🎵 Musical statues

Once the games finished, I brought out all the themed treats including the cupcakes, biscuits, Rice krispie treats, chocolate sticks and Mario hats.

We then all sang Happy Birthday before Leo blew out the candles on his cake.

By the end of the night everyone was exhausted, so the kids went straight to bed while I stayed up tidying before finally heading to bed myself.

🍔 Family BBQ for My Mum’s Birthday

Saturday was my mum’s birthday, so we headed over to my parents’ house for a family BBQ.

The kids rode their scooters there, which they loved, and my dad was very excited to try out his new BBQ.

We had burgers, sausages, chicken and peppers before spending the afternoon chatting and catching up together.

After such a busy week, it was nice having a slower afternoon with family.

🐱 Gabby’s Dollhouse Live in Liverpool

Sunday was another really special day as we travelled to Liverpool to see Gabby’s Dollhouse Live! as one of Leo’s birthday treats.

We kept the trip a surprise until his birthday, which made it even more exciting for both kids.

We got the tram into Manchester before catching the train to Liverpool, and thankfully managed to grab a table seat which made travelling much easier with the children.

Once we arrived in Liverpool, we headed towards the M&S Bank Arena, although we did have a small detour when Leo suddenly needed the toilet!

Inside the arena, the kids were immediately drawn to the merchandise stand.

Alice chose a cuddly Pandy plush, while Leo desperately wanted one of the light-up bubble wands. Unfortunately they sold out just before we reached the front of the queue, which definitely caused a few tears.

Luckily, we managed to save the day with a light-up baton instead.

The show itself was bright, colourful and full of energy.

Alice especially loved CatRat, while Leo’s favourite part was Cakey’s Sprinkle Party. And when Dance Like a Gabby Cat started, the whole arena was up dancing.

After the show, we headed to St John’s Shopping Centre for dinner before making our way home after such a busy but lovely week.

🎥 Watch Our Weekly Vlog

If you’d like to see everything we got up to this week, you can watch this week’s family weekly update vlog below — including Leo’s Super Mario birthday prep and our trip to see Gabby’s Dollhouse Live!.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw-TN93bYv8