10.7.09

The Cake

Today began the festivities leading up to Mason's 4th birthday. The big celebration, a pirate party, is tomorrow afternoon. We've had so much fun getting ready for this party. Mason has been fascinated with pirates ever since Seth took him to see the Veggie Tales movie, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," last year at the movie theater. It was his very first time at the "popcorn," as he called it. He just didn't stop talking about pirates. So for Christmas we got him an Imaginext pirate ship. He absolutely loves that thing and plays with it everyday! Several months ago, he came to me and said, "Mom, I want a pirate birthday." So hence the theme for his 4th birthday party.

There's not much to do during the sweltering summer months in south Louisiana besides stay somewhere cool . . . that would be either inside or by the pool. So the swimming pool will be the main attraction at the party tomorrow. However, you can't have a pirate party without a treasure hunt . . . and a cake.

Now, let me tell you, I don't do cakes. I love to cook. But I don't love to bake. I avoid it at all costs. Besides, who needs to bake when there are some snazzy bakeries around that can do anything and everything you could possibly dream of to decorate a cake? My absolute favorite bakery in Baton Rouge has two different pirate-themed cakes.

The first one . . . well, it's impressive. When Mason saw it, he said, "That's the one I want!" And, I mean, who wouldn't?!? Look at this thing . . .

Yeah, it's a fancy cake alright . . . and it comes with a fancy price tag . . . $129.95! Oh yes, I am not kidding!

So, at this point, I showed Mason the other pirate cake option. It's cute. Take a look . . .

But, compared to the other one, I guess it's a let-down. Mason was not impressed. At all. So for a couple of days, I really tried to talk him into this cake. It's a manageable $34.95! I finally realized this cake would just be a disappointment to him.

And that's when I decided to make the pirate cake myself! Oh yes, you read that correctly. I don't have a back-up plan . . . so this has to work! While Hannah Kate was napping this afternoon, Mason, Abbie and I went to work on his pirate cake. We got all of the layers baked, cut and assembled. I must say I'm rather proud of our efforts . . . thus far. I still haven't iced it or decorated it. So we'll see. But, in the meantime, we really enjoyed ourselves, and I think it's coming together quite nicely!