It pains me a bit to post about back-to-school activities when we still have three weeks of summer vacation to enjoy, but our Georgia “cousins” started school today so I thought I’d better face the inevitable.
Every year since Andrew started kindergarten, I (and whatever siblings were around) have made this School Bus Cake from Family Fun to celebrate the first day of school. I was drawn to this simple little cake because I have no decorating skills whatsoever. All you have to do is trim some Sara Lee pound cakes (or banana bread if you prefer a healthier version), slap some frosting and decorations on, and you’re good to go.
Making the cake was a little bittersweet last year because all the kids were at school, but I soldiered on. I plan to continue this tradition as long as someone around here is having a first day of school. You can see from the photo that Lily is much more excited about the whole thing than Andrew is. But he’s a good sport and I’m sure that deep down he’s glad we do things like this. Really, really deep down.
Do you do anything special for the first day of school, either in the morning when the kids head off or in the afternoon when they come home?
(An interesting tidbit: Family Fun shares a helpful how-to video for the school bus cake that features Lee Woodruff, of all people. She wrote In An Instant to chronicle her family’s experiences after her reporter husband Bob’s roadside bomb injury in Iraq. Definitely worth a read.)
I’ve heard about this “bus” but have never seen it. It’s wonderful and so are the students.
Oh, I think this is such a great idea. It must have been hard to make it all by yourself! I would have probably been crying the whole time. My husband jokes that our house has never been cleaner or more organized than the 2 weeks after our baby girl went off to kindergarten. 🙂