Return of the Birthday Cake

Last year it was Elmo, this year princesses.  We celebrated Carol’s third birthday last weekend and the goal, a cake that hopefully resembled a castle.

As of a week ago, I had not planned, purchased or cleaned a single thing in preparation for the party.  I had only sent out invitations, so I was committed.  I started brainstorming cake ideas with some friends and decided I would either do a princess or a castle cake.  I had scanned pictures of both on the internet and neither looked that difficult.  Carol is in love with the iconic Disney castle, so we decided that was the way to go.

The party was Saturday, so I took Friday off.  I had a lot of work to do, but I still hoped to sleep in, just a little.  At 6am Carol (not Brianna) was up, bright eyed and bushy tailed.  What!?!  The same kid I have to drag out of bed at 7am most days and lounges in bed until 8am on the weekends.  Okay, I’m up.

After grabbing some coffee I get the kids off to daycare and start working.  The castle was two tiers (never done a multi-tiered cake).  I used a 9x13 Pyrex for the bottom tier, a 5x11 for the top and cupcakes for the turrets.  After whipping up two boxes of cake mix and dying them pink (only required ~5 drops of dye – see how ElmoBecame Red) I popped all three pans in the oven and waited.  Thirty minutes later, I had cake, a lot of cake.

I had purchased two cans of frosting, that morning as I went about my errands I grabbed one more just in case. (This is foreshadowing..can you just feel the suspense)  Got ice, balloons, plates, I was ready to party.

After letting the cakes cool for several hours on the counter, the carving commenced.  I cut the 9x13 in half and stacked it.  No problems.  Then I started frosting and it came crumbling down, the cake was still too warm.  After several failed attempts, I popped some frosting in the microwave and warmed it to the point where I could drizzle it on and seal the crumbs in.  I trimmed and stacked the 5x11 and used the same approach to ice it and put everything in the refrigerator to harden.  At this point, I am down about 1 ½ cans of frosting.

A few hours later, I pull everything out to do the top coat on the cake, the cupcake turrets and used the remaining cupcakes to make some shrubbery. (Finally got a chance to use my green food coloring!)  The bad news was that I was out of frosting and hadn’t done any of the decorating.  It was also about 5 pm and I had to pick the kids up from daycare.  So much for getting the cake done.

I swing by the grocery store before getting the kids and they have a new pink lemonade frosting!  Jackpot!  After the earlier issues, I grabbed two cans, just in case.  That night, one more can and a few dozen toothpicks later, we have a castle.

The party was fun, Carol had a great time and the cake was delicious.  I wonder what Carol’s thing-of-the-moment that I can epitomize on a cake will be next year.  In any event, I am sure a harrowing tale will accompany the creation. 

Disney: The Aftermath

The Winners: Goofy’s Go-Gadget Coaster, Tea Cups (the spinnnier the better), Carousel, Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, Trains (all of them)

The coaster was the biggest hit of all.  As the roller coaster pulled back into the loading area, Cara lifted both fists in the air like Rocky at the top of the steps proclaiming,” Yeah!”  A freeze-frame moment if I ever saw one.

Tea Cups were a respectable first runner up.  We rode them twice, the second time without daddy (who gets motion sick) and we really got the cup spinning.  She was grinning and giggling so loud, it was reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat.

The Losers: Peter Pan, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, basically anything dark

The first ride we did was Peter Pan, no more than 30 seconds in, she was in tears, scared of the dark and begging us to get off.  Oops.  A few rides later, she indicated that she wanted to go on Mr. Toad, same thing.  We should have known better, but we let her talk us into it.  After that, we avoided Snow White and Pinocchio.

What I learned

Disney must release a crack-like vapor into the air, only effective on children under ten that keeps them at an energy level well above the normal range.  However, the minute you are off the premises, and out of the vapors range, you child will crash, hard, like within 30 seconds.

If you have a daughter, be prepared to wait in line for at least an hour, to spend less than ten minutes taking pictures of the princesses and you own precious princess with a grumpy face.

Weight training is advised in advance of your trip, four days later and my legs and arms are still burning from lugging around 40lbs of kid for several miles over two days.  (And I think I am in fairly decent shape)

Hedging our bets and going on week days paid off.  Week days equals shorter lines, which equals happy kid, which equals happy mommy.  ALSO, get there when they open, your kid is already going to be up, so you might as well capitalize on that time.  We covered all of Tomorrow Land in just over an hour, very efficient.

The biggest take away though was that despite the aches and lack of sleep, the experience brought so much joy to my daughter and I can’t wait to do it again when Bri is old enough.

Taking our princess to Disneyland

At the end of this month, my baby turns three, THREE! And to celebrate we are taking her on a special Mommy, Daddy, Cara trip to Disneyland. I am not sure who is more excited, her or us.

Over the last six months, she has adopted all things Disney as her new favorite pastime.  The excitement she exhibits when she see the iconic castle appear before a movie is just about the cutest thing you have ever seen.  She obsesses over Princess Aurora, Ariel and Belle.  She talks non-stop about the “Bad Lady” from 101 Dalmatians and even convinced us to go see the ‘cowboy’ at Toy Story on Ice.  Disneyland is going to blow her mind.

In preparation, I have done some reading on how to prepare for a trip to Disneyland with young kids, booked the hotel, downloaded the aps, I will be going to the store this weekend to stock up on travel snacks, light sticks and other sundry supplies.  I haven’t however bought the tickets, perhaps I should get on that.

 Meanwhile, Bri is going to spend some quality time with grandma and grandpa.  This is going to be the first time I have left Bri for more than 12 hours since the day she was born.  I am conflicted over being so excited about the time I will get to spend with Cara, and how much I am going to miss Bri.  Logically, I know Bri is going to be fine.  I mean, my sister and I managed to make it successfully to adulthood didn’t we?  Plus, I have written painfully detailed notes and portioned out all of Bri’s food with labels (if you know me, you know this isn’t an exaggeration).

Pictures to come after our adventure, in the meantime, I have got to get ready!