April Fools 2011

A few tips for a really convincing April Fool's joke involving food: 

1. Make sure your intended victim sees you making a REAL version of the food you will be tricking him with.

2. Play your trick on April 2.

The boys and I conspired, yet again, to fool David.  This year, it was a sponge cake.  We spent the afternoon baking and making frosting.

 Then, we frosted and decorated a REAL SPONGE!!!

Super funny, people, super funny.

Sadly, these will be the last photos I post for a while.  Our camera bit the dust and for a brief moment I thought, "Oooh!  Maybe this is an opportunity to upgrade to one of those fancy DSLR cameras everyone seems to have these days!"  Then I looked at the price of those cameras and thought, "Or maybe I'll just settle for the mediocre photos my cell phone takes."  

Impostor

Earlier this week, I unpacked our bin of local produce.  In it was a large, white, tuberous vegetable.  I vaguely remembered that this week's bin was supposed to contain something I'd never cooked with before but . . . what was it again?  "What is this?"  I said, holding the daikon radish (for that is what it was) up to Matthew.

He studied it for a moment and then said, "Ohhhh!  I know!  It's a vegetable that's pretending to be a carrot!"

No, not really.

On Christmas Eve, Cameron was reciting the gifts that the Wise Men brought to baby Jesus.  "One was gold.  And myrrh.  And the other was frank . . . frankin . . . frankincense."

On a whim, I joked, "Do you know what Grandpa Frank's full name is?"

"What?" asked Cameron.

"Frankincense," I replied.

Cameron was not fooled but David turned to me, his eyes wide with surprise.  "Really?" he said, "I didn't know that!"

Something fishy

We love a good April Fools joke around here, so Cameron and I began plotting well in advance. We decided on a dinner of faux fish sticks, to be washed down with Jello impersonating apple juice. We sliced pound cake into fish stick sized slices, covered it with a thin layer of frosting and rolled it in crushed Golden Grahams. To make our prank even more convincing, I made real fish sticks in the oven to give the house that convincingly fishy aroma. A few things may have clued David in that the fish sticks were not authentic:

• Cameron made mention of the fact that April Fools Day was approaching a few too many times.
  
• We never have fish sticks for dinner.
  
• The white frosting showed a bit too much. (When I found the faux fish sticks in Family Fun magazine, it called for peanut butter but with Matthew's food allergies we are strictly peanut-free.)
• Cameron was sitting at the dining table casually holding a camera and winking surreptitiously at me.The apple juice, however, made with lemon Jello and just a hint of red food coloring, was a success.Cameron also spent much of the day playing his own April Fools tricks on us. "Mommy, there's a tarantula behind you!" he'd shriek. "April Fools!"

And Matthew might not follow the pranks, but he can scream, "TRICKED YOU!" with the best of 'em!

Don't Trick a Tricker

David joined us in Michigan on Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day, Cameron and I bought some art supplies at the drug store. Cameron was insistent that he HAD to have modeling clay. As soon as we were back at the house, he got to work creating clay green peas. We carefully arranged the peas on a plate with some crackers and a selection of fresh veggies. Cameron was positively giddy waiting for Daddy to arrive so he could trick him. As soon as David walked in, Cameron called out, "Daddy! Come have a snack!" David thanked us for our thoughtfulness, sat down and, to my great surprise, took a really big bite of the peas. "BLECH!" he spit them out as Cameron laughed hysterically. "Fooled you AGAIN, Daddy!" he crowed.

Later, David told me that although he recognized immediately that the peas were a set up, he mistakenly believed that they were made from Starburst. He took a big bite expecting a sweet treat and instead got a mouthful of clay!

Grandpa's Little Protege

My grandpa is a world-class joker. When I was a child, he had me convinced that he invented M&Ms. And that he was the "Milton" in Milton & Bradley. And once, he told me that the water dispenser in his new fridge was actually a small camera and if I put my face up to it and pressed the lever, it would take my picture. And I did.

My grandpa has apparently decided to train Cameron to follow in his footsteps. He sent an e-mail marked "For Cameron only." Sadly, as Cameron is only a level 1 reader, I was needed to assist in the reading of the e-mail. In it, grandpa asked Cameron if he would like to scare his dad with a rubber snake. If you happen to know any five-year-old boys, you can probably guess that Cameron's answer was "YES!" A few days later, Cameron received a padded envelope containing the snake. We spent the next few hours plotting exactly where to put the snake to cause Daddy maximum terror. Finally, noting that Daddy always heads to the bathroom shortly after arriving at home, Cameron positioned the snake strategically on top of the toilet. When David walked in the front door, Cameron could hardly stand it. From behind David, Cameron was winking, giggling and giving me the "thumbs up" sign. When David said, "I'm going to go to the bathroom," Cameron nearly collapsed with excitement. David walked in the bathroom and shut the door. Cameron quickly ran to stand outside the door and when David yelled, "Aggghhhh! A snake!" Cameron shrieked, "Fooled you Daddy! Fooled you good!!!"

We've since had lots of fun posing for photos with the snake. While Cameron likes to feign that he is petrified of the serpent, Matthew doesn't hesitate to show off his fearlessness.

Preschool Practical Jokes

Cameron has recently spent a great deal of time paging through the Target toy catalogue. In our house, Santa accepts requests for up to three gifts only, and Cameron torments himself over which three would be just the perfect selection. The Lego set, an art easel and a spy gadget? No, because Santa can't find out that we're spies! That's top secret after all. OK, OK, how about this? A robot, a Lego set and an art easel. No, no, not quite right . . .

About a week ago, Cameron came across the Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe. To my surprise, he was fascinated. "OK, I am DEFINITELY asking Santa for this!" he crowed. Then, he revealed the source of his merriment. "Here's what I'm gonna do, Mommy," he confided. "I'm going to ask Santa for the Play-Doh ice cream maker. But I'm going to tell Daddy that I asked for a REAL ice cream maker. Then, on Christmas morning, I'll open up my gift and say, 'Oh, Daddy, do you want me to make you some ice cream?' And he'll say, 'Yes, that sounds good!' And then I'll make a Play-Doh ice cream cone and give it to Daddy and he'll lick it and he'll spit it out and he'll be like, 'Ewww! This is not ice cream! This is Play-Doh! You tricked me!'" Cameron collapsed into giggles at the thought of this ingenious plot. For days, he relished the image of Daddy spitting out the Play-Doh. It was so funny, he could hardly stand it. Finally, the pressure got to be too much and he confessed the plan to Daddy. The excitement now gone, he has decided that he will ask Santa for two spy tools and a Lego set, as I have reassured him that Santa is really good at keeping secrets.