Mission Impossible

I honestly thought it would be a simple and quick errand. After school, Friday we would head over to C Creamery and order Big Sis' ice cream birthday cake for Monday. (That's what she asked for this year.) They were supposed to open at 1 p.m. but there was a sign on the door apologizing for the inconvenience and stating they would be open tomorrow. Hmm, now what? Oh, wait, there's a BR across the street and they have ice cream cakes! L'il Sis falls asleep just as we pull into the parking lot. No problem, I'll just have to carry her. In we go and peruse their cake book. Jackpot! They have a Spirit cake (the Disney horse) and Big Sis wants a horse on her cake because she is turning 8 and is completely horse crazy. But wait! You have to order these cakes a WEEK in advance. Well, that won't work since we need it in 3 days. Hmm.

I keep a small phonebook in my car and start looking through it frantically after we're in the car again. A DQ! But where is it? I think I can find it and we go looking for it. We can order a cake and they can draw a horse on it. Big Sis doesn't look thrilled but says she wants it. We order it but as soon as we're out the door (not even in the parking lot yet) she admits she really wants the Spirit horse figurines on her cake. So we go back in and cancel the order.

Then we have a little discussion that maybe she'll have to settle for a regular cake and not an ice cream cake. She is fine with this as long as Spirit and his companion are on the cake. So we try P grocery store (#1). No horse cakes. We go another grocery chain. Again, no horse cakes. How is this possible? We live in horse country!

We give up for the day and decide to try again on Saturday. The monsoon moves in before dawn on Saturday. And stays all day. By 11 a.m. I've decided, there's nothing else for it but we're going to have to go out in it. The girls don their raincoats while I take the closest thing I have (a windbreaker that's not quite up to the task). Our first stop is Wally World. I think we've hit paydirt. There is a cake with horses on it. It's not exactly Spirit but pretty darn close. But we celebrate too soon. They are out of that cake topper. Of course they are!

So then I change my paradigm once more. Maybe I can find the cake topper at a party or craft store and mommy will just make the cake. It wouldn't be the first time. I'm even willing to try drawing a horse on a cake at this point but she's not happy with that option. So we go to a party store. Half the store is taken over by Halloween costumes and paraphernalia. No luck with Spirit or any horse related items, unless you want to count My Little Pony, which Big Sis didn't. So we tried the craft store. Again, no luck.

At this point, I need sustenance. So we stop for lunch. By the way, it has been raining steadily the whole time. Occasionally it slows, but never stops.

After lunch, we try the creamery that we started with yesterday because they are supposed to be open today. False advertising. They are still closed. They still promise to be open tomorrow. But another super discount store is nearby so we go there. By now, the rain really is at monsoon strength. It is pouring and there is no such thing as a close parking spot. I park and grab the kids and the umbrella and make our way inside. We slip and slide our way to the bakery section but find no joy. On the way out, there is certain ubiquitous coffee shop. I'm sorely tempted to get a latte or machiatto or something. But I can't figure out how to hold onto L'il Sis, my car keys, the umbrella and a hot beverage while battling the monsoon back out to the car. Oh, well, I didn't need the calories anyway. By the time, we make it back into the car, the back of my pants are soaked. It's oh-so-comfortable.

We are across the street from BR so I think, "Well, maybe I can simply buy the cake topper from them. Although probably not b/c I don't think the cakes are made on site, but whatever, I'm desperate so let's try." The almost-human teenage boy working the counter didn't think it was possible. At least, that's what I think his grunts meant. I was too irritated to think about asking for a manager at this point. We pile back into the car. Have I mentioned that I'm now sitting in wet denim?

We go to P grocery store (#2). Still no horses but Big Sis decides she can live without them (she hopes for better luck next year) and decides on another design. The good news? It will be an ice cream cake, after all.

The worst part about the whole ordeal was that Big Sis kept apologizing, saying it was her fault that she'd picked such a hard cake to find. I felt bad enough as it was without her feeling bad, too. I kept trying to tell her it wasn't her fault at all. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine for waiting to place an order. But I honestly didn't think it would be such an ordeal. From a simple errand to practically the quest for the holy grail! Who knew it would take 12 stops and 2 days to accomplish the mission of ordering a cake?