Ah, summer, with it's long relaxing days of nothing. The kids are out of school and I find myself able to sleep in, enjoy a quiet cup of coffee, spend endless amounts of time writing and blogging, catching up on the books I've been meaning to read, enjoying a quiet and vigorous swim in the pool ... BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP..... What is that annoying sound? Someone make it stop! I find myself awakened to reality by the loud and obnoxious drone of my alarm clock. Yep, that's what I always dream summer will be like but reality doesn't seem to line up with my imaginings. Far from it! Yes, the kids are out of school and sometimes I do get to sleep in. Sometimes I even get a quiet cup of coffee before my son wakes up and begins his morning seminar on all things Xbox and YouTube. But lately it seems I'm waking up at the same time I do when the school bus is en route, either because my body is betraying me and rising with the sun or because I know I have to rise before the sun to get my run in while the temperatures are tolerable. Plus, I know the earlier I rise the better chance I have of that quiet cup of coffee before the above mentioned seminar begins. I do get a chance to read my books but it's only on our camping trips, which I love and adore and look forward to each summer but they're a lot of work! It takes time to prep and pack for a camping trip. Who has time to read then? And as always, in the midst of our vacation trips I am always planning a summer birthday party for a child. My daughter's birthday always lines up with the last week of school. Always. It's a chaotic whirlwind of school papers, books, concerts, award programs, birthday invites, cake and friends. Oh yes, you can always throw Father's Day and my anniversary into the mix as well. It's all fun and wonderful stuff but boy, am I one stressed out mom and wife by the end. Did I mention I'm also usually packing for a camping trip during the middle of it? And oftentimes a marathon as well.
This year was her 16th so, hey, no added extra pressure as she repeatedly reminded me it was the BIG SWEET 16, "MOM! IT HAS TO BE SPECIAL!" (All caps are on purpose because this is how she said it to me)
We planned a fun event for her at an Escape Room where she and her friends had 60 minutes to escape a moving train before being thrown off a cliff. We miss them all. They needed about another 5 minutes to figure out the escape. I sure am happy the train was really just a series of rooms tucked safe in a building. No children lost! We ended the night back at our house where I was able to light the candles on the requested cake. Yes, those who know me know I go overboard on the kids cakes. It's become a tradition for them to ask for some outlandish theme/design and me to come up with it in cake form. I love it. They love it. I call it my twice a year creative outlet. Anymore than twice a year would kill me. Friends have asked. I always say no. My husband has grown less and less fond of this tradition as he says he loses me for a week at at time when I'm in cake baking mode. I'm not a professional so it can take me at least 3 days to make a cake and I'm always, yes always, a teeny tiny (that's a huge understatement) bit stressed out over the whole ordeal. I start out happy and content and confident. And then an almost disaster will hit. Every time. A cake tier topples over. My cake splits in half. (I'm not the best baker/cake tier putter upper) My fondant cracks and breaks. I freak out, cry a little, agonize, and then I pull myself together and so far, always manage to make it work. This year, for my daughter, it meant tossing an entire tier and creating a bunch of rocks to hide where my cake was sagging. I did say I'm not an expert, right? Cake shows would beat me up for a sagging cake. Good thing I only have to make a bunch of teens and Facebook happy.
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Here's my daughter's cake. I think it turned out pretty good for this non-professional. |
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| This was taken before I added the candied gems/stars but it's a better shot of the panther. |
Birthday party completed we were able to head out for our camping trip, after which both our kids immediately left for church youth camp. Upon their return we had a few days to prep before we left on vacation. Upon our return I had three days to now make my son's birthday cake. Guess what? He was having a big birthday year also. "MOM, IT'S MY 13TH! IT HAS TO BE AWESOME!" (Again, all caps are there on purpose!) I figured his would be simpler because, hey, no cake stacking. The hard stuff was all going to be made out of rice crispy treats and simply set on top. It was simpler and went together much easier until 45 minutes before people were due to arrive when his microphone began sinking into the cake and the computer monitor toppled over. Panic arrived just as promised but after a few moments of standing in front of the cake, frozen with lack of a plan, I figured out a fix for the issue. I quickly made some headphones to place around the monitor, effectively covering up the now seriously disturbed frosting and added a bunch more support sticks to the monitor. It worked! He and his friends were highly impressed and once again, I breathed a sigh of relief. Until they cut into it. That's always hard. Then I hold my breath again. Oh, one minor error. The boys pointed out to me I put the keyboard on upside down. Arg! Yep, there's the space bar, at the top. I told them I was just trying to test them.
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| That crazy smiling white ball thing is supposed to be his microphone. This is a replica of his computer set up. BuzzRatchet Gaming is his YouTube Channel. |
There you have it! One part of my crazy summer schedule. It's a part I'm always excited to start and just as excited to finish. It's a lot of work and stress but I love that I'm able to be home in the summer (for the most part) to create cakes like these. I know it's a blessing and I know one day I'll miss it. I'd like to say that's what future grandkids are for but I'm sort of hoping my kids will want to create crazy cakes for their kiddos. If not, grandma will be waiting in the wings. As long as they live close to me! Not sure I can fit one of these into a UPS box Maybe a cake that looks like pig slop would ship okay?
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