Monday, September 29, 2014

The Mickey & Minnie Birthday!

I am not a big birthday celebrator. It's just the nature of being an introvert, I guess. However, with two littles nine days shy of two years apart in September, I supposed that I better get my birthday celebrating act together. Joe has such a large family and friend network from childhood in New York here in the Phoenix area (which is just weird), but that always makes "family" events still rather large. I debated teetering over the family ledge and making it bigger, but that's not my thing, it's not how I see birthday celebrations, I know in the future this tactic may not work as the kids make more and more friends, but for now it was better to keep it intimate.

For months I have been pinning ideas for Minnie for Emilyn. Lincoln kept insisting, "I want an alligator cake for my birthday". We spent a looong time on Pinterest figuring out how we would approach an alligator cake until about two weeks ago when Lincoln saw the Minnie party pinboard on the iPad. Instantly he changed tunes, "I want a MICKEY cake!" We asked him over and over about what he wanted to make sure, and he never went back. Mickey and Minnie it was!

After last year's cake debacle, Joe had joked that I was fired from the cake and he was going to make it this year. However, I was still quite opinionated on how I wanted it to be and every suggestion he made wasn't what I had in mind. I guess he figured it was better not to mess with the emotional Mama when her little girl is turning one, her son is turning three, and she has an image in her head. Smart man, that Joe. He backed off. Luckily, my mom was with me again and I remember all the reasons things didn't work well last year, so we made sure not to do them this year. (1. Grease the pan really well, 2. let the cake cool completely before you try to frost it.)

Lincoln and I went to the grocery store for a cake mix and he instantly spotted the Funfetti box, just like last year, and insisted on "that one". Who am I to argue with the birthday boy? We decided on cupcakes rather than 3 round cakes, searched high and low for something to make little Minnie bows out of, and bought three different kinds of cookies to test for ears. Again, as the Mama I won the debate by using Oreos over grasshoppers. Why? Because the grasshoppers were brown with a scalloped edge, which meant they were wrong for Mickey and Minnie's ears. Amiright?? Yup, I am.

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We found this dough at Michael's for the Minnie bows and we bought little sprinkle pearls for the dots. I had fun trying to make them, but it was a bit harder to make them look as good as I wanted them to. Maybe fondant would have yielded a more professional result, but the dough was the more economical option.

After realizing when Stef and I made the smash cake that I didn't have pastry equipment, I bought a plunger-style pastry tube with tips and used the star tip with Vanilla frosting. It made decorating so much easier, cleaner, and therefore more fun. Joe told me that I redeemed myself with the success of the cupcake design.

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Lincoln was so excited that he wanted to eat one right away, but we told him he had to wait until our friends arrived.

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I also ordered custom cookies from The Scarlett Cookie. I met Jennifer in my local mom group and she squeezed in an order for us. She is so talented! Check out all her designs on her facebook page: The Scarlett Cookie.

Shortly after people arrived, it started storming. Sudden, massive, sideways, down pouring rain. Joe was trying to grill on the back porch, and thankfully our new Weber grill rocked the challenge. It didn't last long, but it was fun. One of the supports for a tree in our backyard snapped, the grass was flooded, and it dropped the temperature so low we were able to open our windows in the evening. Lincoln and Gavin thought the puddles in the grass were better than a swimming pool any day!!

 

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We sang happy birthday to Lincoln and Emi, and Emi figured out how to smash a cupcake! When Lincoln turned one he was more concerned with sharing his cupcake. Not Emi! She ate the WHOLE THING by herself. If only she'd figured this out for her cake smash!! DSC_0483

It was a fun day to celebrate Emilyn and Lincoln's birthdays! Happy birthday!

 

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