Lego Cake Pops

So my first attempt at cake pops was pretty much a complete failure. I saw the idea for Lego head cake pops  here and thought they would be perfect for my son to take to school for his birthday treat. Unfortunately, I didn't quite grasp the appropriate size of the pops. When I make them again, they'll be a lot smaller...

I thought they should be, well, cupcake size. Not a good idea. They were so heavy that the pops buckled under their own weight. Luckily, I made six extras, so there were enough unbroken ones for the 21 kindergarten and first graders in my son's class. (On Mackinac all our elementary classes are splits. The first graders attend school alone in the morning and the kindergartners join them after lunch.)

The day we made them was one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. Not only did the pops bend the sticks and crack, but we also had problems with the candy melts (the yellow coating). And I'm a direction reader! I read them all - and yes, I read them before we got started.

The candy melts (Wilton brand) did not want to melt well, and even when they did liquefy, we had to add shortening to get them liquidy enough to coat the pops. But even then the coating wasn't smooth. Luckily the kids weren't the least bit critical. They identified them immediately as Lego guys and hastily began attacking them (complete with zombie noises.)  The kids didn't care that they were lumpy, cracked, and on bent sticks - because, while they looked nothing like we wanted them to,  they were really tasty!

I'll let you know how round two goes. Right now: Cake Pops - 1, Liz & Miranda - 0...

A Christmas Wish

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is for Mackinac Island to look like this. This whole riding my bike in 20 degree weather thing is getting kind of old. A nice winter storm, that no one had to drive in, would be perfect.

Thank you, Santa, and drive safe!

Liz

An Island Treat

I know there are a few of you out there who pop in here from time to time just to see what is going on Mackinac Island. Well, today you will not be disappointed! Wednesday night was the Mackinac Island Public School's annual Christmas Program, and I thought you might enjoy it. It certainly isn't going to win any awards and the sound quality isn't the best, but our island kids are pretty darn cute.

The program included pre-school through high school students (although only the elementary grades are included in the 32 minute portion above.) At the end, for the sign language song, you can see all of our kindergarten through 7th graders, and, if you look very carefully at the left hand side of the screen, my disembodied hands leading the song...

Lost

A plane bound for Mackinac Island crashed last night. I rode over to the island on the 11:00 am boat this morning and we could see several Coast Guard boats still searching the Straits. I don't know many details, other than the Search and Rescue Team finally found the wreckage along the shore near St. Ignace this afternoon.

Both the pilot and the passenger died and both left families behind. My heart goes out to all of them - and to the pilot's work family at Great Lakes Air. I've flown across the Straits from St. Ignace to Mackinac many times, and I always felt safe in the  knowledge that I'd land on the other side. I have complete faith in both the staff and equipment at Great Lakes Air, but moments like these remind me to savor each and every day I am lucky enough to get. You never know when your time is going to be up.

Now, I need to go tuck my little ones in one more time and let them know just how much I love them...