The Joy of Joe: A Very Bigfoot Birthday

Friday, January 27, 2012

A Very Bigfoot Birthday

Brian's birthday was yesterday - but since Uncle Mark was arriving today for his visit, we wanted him to celebrate with us. Little did Mark know that we would be using his artistic skills to help design and decorate Brian's birthday cake.

Ever since we saw a filming of Finding Bigfoot last week, Liv has been unwavering in her desire to make her Papa a Bigfoot cake. The other night before bed, we drew up a number of different designs. Most of her designs were quite elaborate; one even had the Loch Ness Monster and some fish popping out of a lake, with fall leaves on the trees and a full moon in the background. I absolutely love the way her mind works and let her know that we may not be able to incorporate all of her ideas into the cake, she would be very pleased with the finished product.

I picked Mark up from the train station at 4:30 am and after a few hours of sleep, it was time to get started on the cake decorating. We decided to make a plaster cast of a footprint and then have some mud and trees surrounding it. We HAD to have a squatchy forest and, according to Olivia, Bigfoot (preferably Patty) MUST be on the cake. By the time Liv was done with school, we had the basic framework of the cake finished. She was a big help adding the oreo dirt, helping me make (and test) the green frosting for the trees (she did an awesome job frosting the cones) and putting all the final touches on the cake. Excited does not even begin to describe her mood. She could not wait for Papa to get to Grandma's house so the fun could commence.

We had a blast with his bigfoot birthday and Olivia loved the following the trail of footprints with the flashlight through the dark house. (That was her idea - after all, they do go on night expeditions all the time). Soon, they found the cake and it was time to dig in and enjoy. I can't wait to see what they have in store for me on mine!