They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but let me tack a few more on to this one.

This photo was taken at my son’s soccer party this last weekend in Paso Robles.  Ethan played on a very good team with some great kids so taking him to the park on a cold Sunday was not a tough call.  Now, getting there on time was.  I was elected to bring hot dogs to the party.  I live in the 5 Cities and didn’t budget enough time to buy some Farmer John’s Hot Dogs and the drive time prior to the noon soiree.  I knew I was going to be about 15 minutes late, and all I could see in my head was shivering kids holding empty hot dog buns wondering why Ethan’s Dad and local weather luminary, Dave Hovde, chose to let everyone down.

As the case was I wasn’t too late and the guy bringing the buns was even later than I was.  Then we played some parents vs the kids soccer.  Kids took an early lead, parents mounted an able comeback to graciously accept defeat.  Then it was time for awards and cupcakes.

The development of theme based cakes and cupcakes must have called for engineering of brighter and more permanent frosting colors.  The theme here was clearly soccer, so part of the cupcakes were green like grass and other parts were white and black simulating the ball.  The green and black might as well have been Sharpie.  Water, soap, toothpaste and industrial sand blasting equipment will not remove the stain.  I suspect it was designed by dentists but have no foundation for full prosecution.  I think it was made at the same time as the ink substance you use to make sure you didn’t miss any spots while brushing.

It must taste good though, because it is WAY too easy to get photos like this.

This picture looked bad, but the Darth Vader at my son’s birthday party was even an more insidious mixture of black and purple which stained skin for days.