The cupcakes would be a cute idea, you could decorate each one with a letter so together it says "Happy Birthday To Our Queen" or the Queen - you could also put the cupcakes on a board in the shape of a tiara or castle (?) I did find a present cake, quite elegant, you could change the colors to reflect her brown, pink and silver favorites. The link is here for you. Hope you post the finished product! Suzan J Here is a link that might be useful: present cake...

I suggest shipping the cake in the cake pan. I'm not sure if you were thinking about a layer cake - that may be hard to ship. But if you make a cake in a 9 x 13 pan or a bundt pan, just ship it in the pan which would keep it intact. Here is a recipe for a cake to ship that I found with packaging suggestions: Want to make someone who is far away from home very, very happy?! Make them a cake and send it to them. Maybe you heard Ben talk about this cake on the radio. Or maybe you just want to do something nice for someone who is a long way from home. This cake is easy to make, ships well and will just surprise the heck out of anyone who opens it up! Easy Chocolate Cake For People Overseas 1 Stick Of Butter 4 Eggs 16oz Hershey Chocolate Syrup 1 Cup Flour 1 Cup Sugar 1 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Vanilla Disposable aluminum pan for shipping Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and chocolate syrup and vanilla. Blend in flour and baking powder. Pour into a well greased 8" pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 min. or till toothpick shows done. Cool it completely. Tips: Bake in a heavy 8" pan (not in the disposable aluminum pan) and put on top of a cookie sheet in case it spills over. After it is cool, run knife around edges of cake to loosen and dump whole cake on top of a large sheet of saran wrap. Wrap well and place in the aluminum cake pan and wrap well again. You may want to use some bubble wrap, too. We suggest you ship this in the UPS flat rate box (11 x 8½ x 5½) for a set price of $7.70 regardless of weight. Be sure to include standard customs forms, and you should be able to add a few goodies for no extra postage charge.

Hi, thanks for your replies. gellchom - The party is only small (approx 30 people) but I like your cupcake idea. rob333 - I would prefer to do one cake if I can but have thought that two polar cakes would have to be used if I can't come up with a relevent idea. The only thing is, as I am making them myself, my time (without my son being around) is limited and would be quite stretched if doing two cakes (it is a surprise party). donna_loomis - I regret to say that unfortunatly my father and youngest son do not have the classic 'grandad-grandson' relationship as he still works full-time and although thier relationship is close, they do not spend enough time together to have a shared activity. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

Can you get in touch with a nice restaurant in Branson and make reservations for a nice meal and tell them that you will pay for it? That would be nice along with the travel package. Although some people are fans of gift cards, I am not. Frankly I don't think they show much imagination and maybe I don't shop at that store. It puts more of a burden on me when I get a gift card to a specific store, As I have to keep track of the card, have to find something there I like, and just remember that I have it to use. I am not suggesting that it's not generous and that it's not a good gift for some people. I just choose not to use them and don't really like getting them. Of course, I am appreciative of any gift that anyone get me and I am grateful for their gift, but gift cards just don't do it for me. To me, it just seems as though the giver didn't care to put any more thought into it and took an easy way out. Call me crazy. Put a little more thought into it for some creativity, and I would expect that would be much more appreciated. Can you set it up with your father ahead of time, so that you have some idea of your plans in Branson and when they would be available for an extra special dinner at an extra special restaurant? Of course, by the time you read this, it will be too late. I was hoping that you could at least tell her that you would be giving her that special dinner and then make specific arrangements later. Sorry that I am reading this too late.