August 9, 2008--A.M.

Wake up and help mommy frost 60 cupcakes.



Have breakfast at Fat Alberts (MM pancake!)



Head to Shady Dell Train Park. (We lucked out this year because this event was arranged by our Sellwood Playgroup months ago) It's a miniature train park where the kids ride real, running trains--over bridges and through tunnels too! They were in absolute kid-heaven.


At the train station...all aboard!


Here the come round the bend!


Audrey's buddies Julia, Aram and Gideon, pictured with their (grand) parents...


Gideon is one of Audrey's favorite friends in the neighborhood (and we like his parents alot too). Gid is the pensive and sensitive type. Collects flowers and such. Yes, his folks know he's sporting a mullet. They can't bare to cut his hair and hearing them wax poetic about the extra inches blowing in the breeze when he does this and that, can almost make you pee your pants. A grouchy old man even confronted them on it recently. The codger said something like, 'that's quite the hair-do he's got there.' To which Cheyenne, his mom replied with a laugh, 'yeah, we think it's cute.' To which codger replied, 'well that's certainly a matter of opinion.' People can be so rude.

It was a lovely and merry celebration with friends...and cupcakes too.
Pistachio, cherry-chip, chocolate, chocolate marshmallow, spice, bacon and muffins for the nutritional lightweights.



The cupcake you see below, next to blueberry oat muffins, is an idea shanghaid from Kelly's Voodoo donut experience. It is a spice cupcake with cream-cheese maple icing and crispy bacon. Amazingly, it worked. One parent at the park said it was better than the donut. Hurrah! (Note--for those who might try this at home: you will not achieve a 'mapley' enough icing using maple syrup. You must resort to imitation maple extract. Unfortunately, the taste we have become accustomed to on maple bars cannot be achieved through natural means. Nature is just not that mapley. Oh--and on my test run the day before, the icing was too thick and overwhelmed the flavor combo. So keep it modest.)