We like cake

We really like cake.

And for Grace's 3rd birthday I may have gone slightly overboard with her cakes.

Grace really wanted a mermaid cake but I was afraid that just one cake wouldn't be enough for all our guests.  And I really wanted to go a little over the top with her cakes.  Just to see Grace's reaction.  I wasn't disappointed.

I must admit that I enjoy embellishing our cakes.  And since we were having a mermaid cake I decided to make a "tass-ull tate" (castle cake), too.  Ariel isn't just a mermaid.  She's also a princess.  And along with a crown and magic wand, every princess needs a castle.

Originally I was going to keep it hidden from Grace until the party, but she loves to help me in the kitchen so I decided to let her help.  And because she wanted her cake "spar-cully" (sparkly) with "speen-culls" (sprinkles), I let her have at it.  It was after all her cake.

I had planned to keep her mermaid cake hidden, as well, but Grace spotted it out of the corner of her eye and yelled out, "Dares two Air-ulls!  Dares two of dem!"  (There's two Ariels!  There's two of them!)  and ran over to get a closer look.

I couldn't have been happier with her reaction.  Grace sat beside her mermaid cake for the longest time and told Ariel that she was "bew-ful" (beautiful) and she "yubbed her" (loved her).

And in that moment, all my hard work paid off.  Her excitement and joy over her Ariel cake was so infectious and heartwarming.  And we had so much fun decorating her castle cake together.  

After baking 4 separate cakes and mixing I don't know how many batches of icing, I spent quite a bit of time on these two confections.  But I have to admit that they both surpassed my expectations.  And I may have a tough time outdoing myself next year...  Still, I will try...