Week 177

July 18-24

Hot, hot, hot JULY!  It is the month in South Carolina when you either go outside before around 8:30 am or you avoid going outside altogether.  This is when I think back to before air conditioning was invented and I seriously wonder how people survived living in the south.

Despite the heat we still managed to do some fun activities this week.  We drove up to Columbia and picked up Aunt Caro-hine (Caroline) so we could go check out the animals at the zoo!!  My mom got us a season pass for Christmas and we love to use it.  I think the zoo is one of those places that no matter how many times you go it never gets old.  Luckily the kids seem to feel the same way.  Caroline and I slathered them in sunscreen and put on hats so they could enjoy themselves.

Jack loves to play at the park, not just the zoo park but any park.  As an almost 3 1/2 year old he is pretty much coordinated enough to do any of the obstacles the parks have to offer.  I used to get so nervous about him falling or not being able to do something, but after taking the time (along with Ed) to teach him how to approach each challenge, I am more laid back and he is actually very good at climbing.  I have learned to sit back and just let him go.  Accidents are going to happen whether I'm hovering over him or not.  

Caroline took about 300 more pictures on her camera than what I have on mine, but here are a few that I managed to get.  Maybe someday she will upload hers to Facebook or something (hint, hint).  Overall, the boys had a blast.  They were so lucky to see plenty of their doting Aunt since she was on break from college.  After we played on the playground, fed the birds, fed the giraffes, walked around, and even ate Dippin' Dots ice cream, it was time to call it a successfully fun morning at the zoo!  :)

Random end of the blog post.  Do you like Pinterest?  Who doesn't?  I saw these fun Rainbow Swirl cupcakes on Pinterest and decided to make a little present for our new neighbors!  It's always fun to move into a new house and meet the neighbors.  You can't go over without gifts though, so I figured that was a great excuse to try these out!  I made enough for the neighbors on each side of us, but one of them was on vacation so they never did get their cupcakes.  I owe you guys!  So these cupcakes seemed super simple, and they were for the most part.  I started at an advantage, since I already have a pretty extensive array of Wilton frosting colors.  I love everything cupcakes!

Cupcakes are even more fun when you have an eager little helper to assist you!  Jack has grown accustomed to Mommy's baking habits.  He LOVES when I get out all of my stuff!  To start off these gorgeous cupcakes you get your coloring and streak a line of each color around the bottom of the bag towards the tip.  I just used popsicle sticks that I had from the craft box.  I'm sure a knife would also work.

Here is what it looks like from the top.  After you have finished streaking each color you carefully fill your bag with frosting.  As you all know I make mine from scratch.  I use the Wilton's Buttercream Icing recipe.  You can easily google it.  It is fabulous because you can adjust it to meet your needs.  If you need a more stiff icing or a more creamy icing you are able to make it what you want!  I've never had a complaint about it.

After your bag is ready you can frost your cakes!  I chose to do this swirl pattern.  I basically made 5 small swirls around the cupcake and then topped it with a swirl in the middle.  As you can see in the pictures that as I iced the cupcakes, the frosting colors started to fade.

This was the one thing I didn't like about this particular project, the inconsistency.  It just bothers me and my OCD self.  Eventually it just piped white frosting and I had to fill those cupcakes with sprinkles.  These were definitely neat, but I just don't know if I would make them again.  I picked some of the best ones and delivered them to my new neighbors.  The rest of them tasted divine, whether they were super brightly colored or not!