Monday, August 22, 2011

All Aboard...

Wyatt's 3rd Birthday Express!

And what a wonderful day it was. We couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous day to spend celebrating with a train themed party. I had a blast pulling everything together and it was worth every minute! So come along and enjoy the party too....



What better way to enter Wyatt's Island of Sodor Celebration than with a custom sign and trains galore!

And Wyatt arrived in style driving along his very own railroad tracks (touting his conductors hat, of course)!
I then framed some of the photos Amie and I took during my photography class a couple months ago...it worked perfect with our theme.
A 'happy birthday' sign was also a must to help spice up the fence. (And it gave me a much better background for opening presents!)
Once kids arrived there were many areas around Wyatt's Island of Sodor for them to visit - but the favorite by far was the Waterpark.
(If you aren't familiar with Thomas the Train, he lives on the Island of Sodor.)
And of course there had to be food, so we all dined at the Sodor Sandwich Shop where the menu consisted of hot dogs, chips and fruit skewers.
The last stop (which actually became a stop visited many times throughout the party) was our candy store. We had goodie bags for the kids to fill as a party favor.
Then it was time for gifts, but we tried to keep that short and sweet since the kids just wanted cake...
But I couldn't just settle for cupcakes, I had to challenge myself to master a train cake. It was a blast making it (except for when it fell over half way through the decorating process and I had to scrape off the icing and start over), but it didn't turn out half bad. And Wyatt was absolutely ecstatic about having a train cake made just for him! That was enough to solidify why I spent the time stressing over it. ;)
He even waited until Happy Birthday was completely over before blowing out the candles in one fell swoop. (Gosh he is getting so big!) And of course he had to have a red and blue piece which meant I had to cut the cake right down the center. But it was totally worth it for this birthday boy!
The rest of the party the kids spent running from the water slide to the bouncy to the swing set having a blast. I absolutely loved hearing their giggles the entire afternoon.
At the end of the party (a few kids had already gone home) I decided I should try and get a group photo. I think that was my biggest challenge of the day. To get five kids to sit down for 1 minute for a photo was a disaster, BUT there was one photo (out of 2o) that turned out okay!As the kids left they were able to take a Wyatt & Friends train coloring book and crayons, a train music CD and bubbles. Something they will play with in the coming weeks and remember Wyatt's party! But we couldn't call it a day without getting a family photo, and while it isn't the greatest, I will take it.

What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating three amazing years with this little man. He has forever changed our lives and made us better people! I can't wait to see what a great big brother he is going to be! Happy Birthday Wy-man!