Nanny Goats & A {Blasted} Bunny Cake

Long post here....consider yourself warned. I took Friday off this past week, and somehow, having just one extra day for the weekend made it seem like a true vacation. Who ever decided that we should work five days and only take two off? An overachiever, I'm sure.

While Blaine logged more hours at the office, LE and I headed up to Sweet Grass Dairy just north of Thomasville, GA for a tour of the cheese farm. We joined friends Grooters and Ginns, and had such a spring-y good time. The tour itself is pretty fascinating for all ages; an early Saturday morning start (9am), but a nice experience, followed by delicious cheese tastings at their Marketplace. If you go, be sure to bring an insulated bag to store your tasty purchases in in case you embark on some post-tour eating and shopping in Thomasville.

We all took our turns milking the goats. Here is the back of Jack...kind of hard to get a good picture of this.

Abby;

And her mommy.

Logan and I. She wouldn't touch, but liked seeing them up close.

Paige didn't milk a goat, but she did get some milk later in the tour :-).While the tour itself was fun, the company couldn't have been better. There is something about watching your best friends' children - and your own - interact together. These kiddos are so sweet together. I love this picture here, how they are all entertaining Logan. It won't be long before Carson and Paige are running around chasing this crew too.

Sure have been friends with these ladies for a long time.

The kids were very intrigued by the cheese-making presentation.

Logan has a true affinity for Jack these days. She laughs at everything he does, and adores chasing him around. I love both these pictures....here with her hand on his shoulder,

And here, seemingly, looking up to him for guidance while petting the yearlings.

She warmed right up to this one, deciding it must need a kiss.

And then he seemed to decide he wanted to give her a kiss back....

What a fun outing!

A {too short} nap later, we started getting ready for our Easter Sunday. Growing up, my mom always made a traditional bunny cake, similar to the one pictured below. Her's were always much cuter, but this gives you the idea.
I loved it as a child. However, my penchant to do it "a bit differently" prompted me to purchase the Williams-Sonoma Bunny Pan a few years back. Here I am with my creation at Easter 2008.

I should confess here that it took two tries this first year to get the bunny cake to hold up and remain upright. It was a point of much stress that year (and I was pregnant, which didn't necessarily help). However, in the end, I was quite successful. Last year, I decided I would not cover the entire cake in icing, and instead gave it more of a powdered sugar coating, with a bit of icing accents (no picture for some reason). And again last year, the cake came close to falling, and I had to secure with countless toothpicks and little wooden stakes.

I share that picture because I want to be sure you understand that I have been successful with said bunny cake before. This year, I was feeling pretty confident. The afternoon was going smoothly...bunny cake was iced and on stand, Almond Blueberry Coffee Cake (recipe from "A Thyme to Celebrate") was cooling on the wire rack, sausage for the Sausage Croissant Bake was sizzling, and I was getting ready for a few little Easter activities with Logan. And then this happened....I post the picture of Fallen Bunny Cake to remind myself not to use the pan next year. Sometimes it is best to admit that no way is better than Mom's way and just go with it. So, next year, it will be a traditional bunny cake, the one that lies flat on his back so there is no chance of slipping and sliding away. The good news here is that since the cake fell, we were able to enjoy a piece on Saturday night. And while it may not be much to look at, it is absolutely "licious" as Logan would say. I used my mom's/grandma's pound cake recipe and the cake just melts in your mouth.

The remainder of our Easter preparation was much more successful. I had spotted these precious little chocolate-dipped Peeps at Peterbrooke Chocolatier a few weeks back, so Logan and I made them together. First I melted the chocolate and poured it into the muffin pan.

After I positioned the little peep bunnies up in chocolate, I passed the tray to my assistant for a bit of sprinkling.

She was helpful, but liked eating the sprinkles better than pouring them on the peeps (the ducks below were just dipped in chocolate since their base is too wide for a muffin tray).

She especially liked eating the fluffy marshmellow peeps.

The finished project {much better than the cake}.

Next, we moved onto our dyed eggs....none other than "Eco Eggs."

My sister introduced us to this line of Eco Kids Eco paint (made from fruit, veggie and plant extracts) at Christmastime, and when I found the company made egg dye, I happily purchased. Learning Express is now carrying some of their products, including the Eco Dough, which we will try next. Needless to say, I've always been a bit grossed out by the dying of eggs with un-natural food dye, and then eating the eggs...even though you dye the shell, don't your eggs sometimes get tinted too? What is that gross stuff we are eating? I'm sure it won't kill you, but still. So, back to this project.

The eco-eggs come in little capsules, which dissolve in warm water.

And even comes with a little soy-based wax crayon for drawing on the egg. Logan was a bit confused as to why her artwork wouldn't show up on the egg.Eggs getting their color.

And the finished product. Not the brightest of Easter eggs, but still pretty.

My other project {thanks to mom for finding this idea and to Blaine for figuring out how to wrap} was our cutlery and napkins wrapped to look like carrots. Pretty cute.

And while I was busy in the kitchen, and Logan was sleeping soundly, the Easter bunny made a little visit.

I will be back in the next couple of days to share another long post with pictures from our brunch with family and friends today.