Mickey Cupcakes and Smash Cake

My bestie's baby just turned 3 and to celebrate she had a Mickey Mouse party. She asked me to make his cupcakes and a smash cake. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and ended up mixing all of the ideas into what worked for me. You can find my board here. I am not a fondant expert yet so I chose to go with what I know, butter cream. I love a good vanilla butter cream with a little cream cheese kick, whipped and whipped so that it is fluffy and silky smooth. My chocolate cupcake recipe is the bomb, super moist and just enough chocolate that you feel like you are indulging but it isn't over kill. Seriously they are so good! I found out the hard way that melting chocolate does not work with food coloring. My husband and kids kept sneaking those little discs...so I think we will be able to use up that giant bag I purchased! Lesson learned. So I made up some sugar cookie icing and double dipped my Oreos to make these. Super easy, super fun and they looked really cute. I will say though, with cookies (especially with Oreos) they need to be the last thing you put on if you want them to stay crunchy. If you put them on a cake or cupcake the night before they will be soft, still really yummy, but soft and not crunchy. It really only took me about 10 minutes to assemble 3 dozen after they had been double dipped, so it's economical from a time stand point to add them right before your guests come. For the smash cake I found a super cute Mickey sticker set at Hobby Lobby and I just stuck it to a red and white striped straw. I made a washi tape banner using two more straws and some twine. Easy peasy!! I mimicked Disney's lettering for his name, which to me made all the difference! Super fun smash cake!

If you are in the Tulsa area, you can order your own Mickey Mouse cupcakes from my store, Three Magee Cupcakes. I deliver!

A little adventure

Last fall we drove from Oklahoma to Oregon to pick up a 1978 Argosy Airstream from my dad. We traveled through Denver, Yellowstone, beautiful Pacific beaches, downtown San Fran at rush hour hauling the airstream and Disneyland. We pushed hard on the way back to just get back in time and stayed extra at Disney so we missed The Grand Canyon. We crammed a lot in, which simply made us hungry for staying in one place and really exploring on our next little adventure. 

We visited Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful while basking in the most beautiful smell of real pine trees. The kids saw the ocean for the first time. My ocean, with cool water on a wonderfully cloudy and foggy day (in true Northern California/Oregon style). My kids got to see part of the not so little town I grew up in just north of the Bay in San Fran. I really missed mom when I was there, something fierce.We went to Disneyland and managed to surprise the kids. It was magical and I can't wait to go back and really spend some time in each place. Now we are busy remodeling our little Airstream to get it ready for our next adventure. 

I will really introduce our Airstream in the next post. Since she really wasn't stay ready we used her as a giant portable bathroom for us in the middle of nowhere. I highly recommend keeping those training potties...it came in so handy! Take lots of snacks but in lots of varieties, have packs of wipes and plastic grocery sacks for trash. Take a cooler so that you can save money on drinks (crystal light and water bottles y'all). Plan out stops and expect to have an accident. Pack your kids extra clothes for the car, some gallon ziplock bags in case they have one. You'll be prepared so you won't get upset and it will be less stressful, oh and some extra towels.

I planned out our Disney trip knowing we only had 2 days at the park. I studied the maps until I knew it nearly by heart. I chose one must do ride for each kid and then we were free to explore the things that were neat and caught our eye. We did do a character lunch at Ariel's Grotto...worth every penny. We also got the photo pass and we will get it every time we go from now on. I have great pictures of ALL of us. The photographers are really great and really do know how to get the best shot wherever you are. It was truly two days of magic!

I could have stayed at Yellowstone for forever. Breathtakingly beautiful. I cannot wait to take our Airstream and have some awesome little adventures with the kids. We stayed at The Yellowstone Hotel. It has been beautifully restored in the lobby and dining areas, and they are working on the rooms. It was a little Shining-esque, but only for Dale and I :). I want to really camp next time. I spotted lots of animals and it was fun looking for them while we drove. 

It was fun and exhausting...worth every second!