Sometimes its okay that things don't turn out like you had planned. Especially when you make bad plans. Like when you think its okay to drive across the United States without stopping for sleep. (Hypothetically.) (Sort of.) This cake is one of those times.
I had originally planned to have a giant octopus coming out of the top of the cake. Because what's cooler than a giant octopus? And I really needed this cake to be cool. Its for my OWN child. And since I stopped letting him eat cookies for breakfast, I'm falling fast on the "favorite parent" chart. How could my husband be winning? He's the one that makes him brush his teeth every night.
I spent hours making the octopus parts. I spent hours thinking about all the angles of support so the legs would stay in and not tear through the cake. I spent hours playing with my children just so I could avoid working on the octopus. And I worried. My stomach is still sick inside from the anxiety. Late last night, long after midnight...I realized I couldn't risk it. What if something bad happened? What if the cake imploded when I tried to put the octopus on the top layer? What if that implosion set off a cataclysmic chain of events that led to the eventual disappearance of Asia? Then he wouldn't have a lame cake....he would have NO CAKE. And everything would be ruined. And my husband would be the favorite parent indefinitely. Nope, couldn't risk it.
So, instead of a very cool giant octopus, he got dolphins. Yeah, I know, not really a fair trade. But at least there was no implosion. Not that I would give him the option to choose between the dolphins or an implosion, because I think we all know what every male on the planet would choose.
The very first thing he said when he saw the cake was, "Hmm, it looks like you didn't make the octopus." And the next thing he said was, "Oh -- you made a sand castle!" (See? I told you he notices the details.) But his favorite part is the "sleepy turtle." I wish I were a sleeping turtle.
PS: I just had to add -- He has very odd birthday cake requests. A few weeks ago he was set on a dinosaur party and wanted a 3D dinosaur cake holding a pencil. I'm not kidding. Luckily, he changed his mind and decided on a fish cake, but there had to be a "fish thinking about Wesley." Just now from the other room, I heard him giggling and saying, "I always WANTED a cake with a fish thinking about Wesley." Ahhh, sigh.... I think the lack of octopus crisis has been averted.