Trying to find a cake for Nisee's Birthday

So I decided that I am going to make Nisee's cake this year.  Her Wonder Pets theme leaves me with limited options from bakers but I found a lot of great ideas online and finally decided on what I am goig to do.  Now I just need to figure out what kind of cake I want.  My first attempt at a vanilla cake from a recipie online did NOT turn out well at all.  The cake tasted ok but not what I was looking for.  The icing was good.  The cake was sagging in the middle too when I got it out.  I also got to take my first crack at doing a cake with ruffles.  It was really easy and if I had been paying attention then I would have messed up the top.  I didn't get to frost the cake until really late that night which didn't help either.  Anyways I end up throwing the cake away after we sampled it and decided it wasn't what we were looking for.  Yes I said we threw the cake away!  I am still trying to lose this baby weight so we taste the cake and enjoy a piece and then it either gets tossed or I will take it to work and share it with my team and peers there. 

Here are a few pictures of the vanilla cake: