Too Much Cake!

 There has been a lot of merry making and cake eating so far this summer. So many birthdays in July.  My son actually said," I am getting tired of going to parties". It is sort of true.  If only we could reschedule some of these anniversaries to February or March. Valentines and Saint Patrick's Day only have so much too offer, especially if you don't have a special some one to write love letters to and don't drink. Conversation hearts and corn beef are certainly, less desirable than Thanksgiving Dinner or Chocolate Easter Bunnies,

These two cakes are from Guarino's Bakery in Norwood MA. They are a staple at any of our holiday "get togethers". The cake on top is just a traditional cake with sugar icing,  perfect for kids parties.  However, the cake below is an Italian Rum Cake. It has vanilla and chocolate custard between rum laden cake and strawberries, then rolled in toasted almonds. A thin slice with a cup of tea is just the thing. My parents have been getting me this kind of cake since childhood. Sort of a weird choice for a little girl but maybe they thought the rum would do a hyperactive child with an anxiety disorder good.

 This little cutie, below, was smelling the sweet smelling roses in my parents yard. The whole air smelled fragrant and the bees were very busy working the flowers.  The kids actually discovered a big bee hive and thought it would be a good idea to poke it with a stick...."so the honey would come out".  Fortunately, an adult stopped them before anyone got to close.  A bee attack could really put a damper of the days events.

 You can see a bee in the center of this beautiful yellow lily. Sounds like a poem, There are also a ton of orange tiger lilies but I thought the huge yellow ones were exquisite.

 Here we see a organic chocolate mint cake a lovely friend brought.  My "adorable" teenage son personalized it with his finger even though it was intended for me. I have to say it tasted a little too good to be all natural but I took their word for it.

 These completely "all artificial coloring and flavoring" cupcakes were for my eighteen year old and his friends. I thought he would be so embarrassed.  Instead, they all fought to get the purple Cookie monster cup cake. Go figure.

 Having my birthday in July has always been kind of a bummer.  As a child I never had the class room birthday party with school friends.  My parents always threw a barbecue and the neighborhood kids would come over.  The neighborhood kids were my closest friends so in reality I have nothing to complain about.

 I love party favors, especially vintage crepe paper candy cups. This was a birthday for a teenage boy so I was pushing it to begin with by putting these little baskets on the table. The boys proceeded to dump the candy from the cups into their mouths in one mouthful. Of course.

Below, you can see I filled over a hundred water balloons  so the kids could cool off.  The past two weeks hung around the ninety degree mark so any relief was welcome. I figured the heat was nothing a couple kiddie pools filled with water balloons and a sprinkler couldn't fix. They had a blast...but there still managed to be crying.

 Finally, I am just posting this cute little pirate. You might even hear me groan AAARRRRGGGHHH, just like a pirate mommy. That is because it means I will end up pushing my little guy around in that little boat with no wheels for at least a half hour, it's a killer.  I always try to encourage him to dress up as a superhero instead. At least our Bat Mobile has wheels and actually runs on a battery. Oh well, they are only cute and little once.