It’s Another Pink Birthday

Today was Thing 3’s 4th birthday.  She requested an ‘elephant cake’.  For those who don’t know, her little lovey animal is an elephant.  In fact, we had 5 days of despair when we returned from FL and thought the elephant had gotten out of the car on the way home and was off on a little safari adventure alone.  I called every gas station and rest area that I remembered stopping at between FL and IL to see if he was romping in the parking lot or bathroom . . . but Thing 2 found him stuffed under the sofa, after I had shopped at a half dozen stores looking for a substitute.  He wandered (and returned) again a few days ago — we’re beginning to consider a radio tracking collar for him.

THE Elephant is the one on the right.  I was all set to make a gray elephant when Thing 3 said ‘pink’.  This cake is not the fanciest, not the neatest job (I had Thing 3 on the left elbow and Thing 4 on the right elbow as I was trying to get a ‘polished’ finish and we decided to settle for ‘finished without giant pock marks’) — I wanted to work on the ears a bit more and I wasn’t quite happy with the mouth, but the kid loved it.  And that’s ALL that counts! 😀   I used a ‘funfetti’ cake mix rather than baking my own and, you know what?, the kids *don’t care*.  In fact, some of them  prefer the cake mix and most of the time they don’t actually eat much cake anyway.  Most years, the kids ask for a cake from a grocery bakery or the ice cream shop b/c man, we can eat Mom’s cake any day . . . but Meijer, Schnuck’s, Wal-Mart, or Baskin-Robbins? Oh, you only get that on your birthday!   Already Thing 1 is old enough that she really appreciates the home made cake and the specialty finish.

I baked two 8-inch rounds, using one for the head.  Free hand, I cut the trunk out of the second and then used the remainder to make the ears.  We put the candle at the end of his trunk.   Already Thing 4 is excited about her birthday . . . 3 months away!!  She’s requesting something pink . . . surprise! 😉