All Aboard the Birthday Express

Caleb's birthday party has been in the makings for months. I can remember him telling me as far back as October that he wanted a James party. Since I knew Hadley's party was going to be a big event for her first birthday, I tried to downsize Caleb's a little from what it's been in the past for my own sanity. Not too surprisingly, it grew into a bigger celebration that I originally planned, but I should have known better because they always do. 

Aside from making the invitations, cake, and some favors, everything else was store bought in advance to save on time and energy. While I love having a ton of guests for parties, I also decided to try to keep it smaller this time too by calling it a birthday "playdate" and hosting it on a Tuesday morning. This worked out best for Dave's parents as well who wouldn't have been able to attend both parties if I'd had them on separate weekends.

I found a template for train invitations online somewhere, and after trying in vain to edit it to display Caleb's party details, I called in the man who can always get the job done. Once again, my hubby figured it out and the result were these realistic looking tickets. The funny thing was we must have made them a bit too close to the real thing because some of the guests were confused that it was their actual ticket for the miniature train ride.

The day before the party, pretty much all I had to do was gather everything I'd already purchased, make the candy train favors, and decorate the cake. The day was pretty busy with the everyday things that always keep us on our toes though, so I got a late start on the last few details. After dinner, Grandma McKinstry helped me prepare the favors while the kids were entertained by the fellas. I had to wait on the cake until much later though because Dave came down with something that evening and ended up going to bed super early. The grandparents and I bathed the little ones and worked to get them to bed, but both Caleb and Hadley had a rough time falling asleep. Finally I got started late that evening and finished somewhere around 1 a.m. By the time I cleaned up everything and got a snack you can imagine what time my head hit the pillow. The next day was definitely going to be run on adrenaline.

Caleb wanted a "James" cake so I tried to make a red engine and red coal car with gray trucks to go with them like the "real" train. Sadly, I ran out of red icing coloring though since I used it all on Hadley's cake over the weekend. I ended up using burgundy instead and it turned out closer to the color of "Harvey." Nothing gets by a three-year-old, of course! The next morning Caleb noticed the train wasn't quite red and commented matter-of-factly, "It looks a little brown." He didn't seem disappointed thankfully!

I couldn't figure out how to make the faces on the engine either and at that time of night did not have the time or energy to be creative. At least he seemed happy with it, even if I wasn't too proud of this one. :)

Skyline Caverns has a miniature train located on their property and it's the perfect size for kids Caleb's age. Since he wanted a train theme, I thought it would be cute to hold the playdate there, let the kids ride the train, and have a picnic at the tables nearby. The morning of the party though the temperature dropped down to the 30s, which wouldn't have made for good outdoor picnicking weather. After debating where we could go for a back-up, I remembered that sometimes people use our church's fellowship hall for birthdays, showers, etc. Being a Tuesday morning, I doubted that it would be in use so I called to check. Thankfully, Plan B was a go! Dave and his parents took all the bags of food and decorations I had prepared and quickly threw together a good looking setup at the church while I got the kids ready and headed to the caverns to meet everyone and explain the new plan.

While waiting on everyone to arrive, the kids played on a random dinosaur statue that was near the train and ran about enjoying themselves. Once all our friends arrived, our bundled up guests boarded the train and took off! The conductor said he didn't think he'd ever seen that little train quite so full before. After the train ride, he was very nice to Caleb and let him sit in the driver's seat for awhile. It was hard to get a picture of a little boy who wanted check out all the controls instead of smiling for the camera, but I snapped a few anyway.

Everyone quickly retreated to the warmth of their vehicles and headed for the church.

To kill a little time and keep the kids entertained while I got a few last minute things prepared, I gave each child a cup with a small capsule that contained a train shaped sponge that they could watch dissolve - a common activity/memory from my childhood, but something a lot of the little ones had never seen before.  The kids also received conductor hats and train whistles to enjoy.

Next came the indoor picnic. I went the easy route with Uncrustables, carrot sticks, cheese sticks, and chips - all foods Caleb enjoys and foods that seemed to go over well with the other kids too.

While I hadn't really planned any games since I figured we'd be outside and the kids would just want to run around, I decided to start an impromptu game of "follow the engine." Each child got a turn to be the engine while the others were "trucks" and had to mimic the leader.

No shyness about this engine.

Everyone touch your toes like Max.

Celeste says wiggle!

Hadley tried to jump like Daniel demonstrated.

Present time followed the game.Caleb got some great gifts and it was a little hard to keep him focused to open the rest because there were so many he wanted to stop right then and play with. Everyone was so thoughtful.

Caleb:"Dinosaur Rex!"

The other kids were pretty excited about the giant dinosaurs my mom and grandma bought too.

Caleb and Hadley actually got in a bit of an argument over this present from Grandma Swan. Both were so excited about it that they squealed at each other, both trying to get a turn at it first.

This was one of the coolest gifts - a truck Caleb could build that included a drill, bits, screws, etc. Grandma McKinstry found this idea around Christmas time and bought Luke one that Caleb loved. She knew it would be a hit!

Can you guess how it all ended? With the cake of course (and a little ice cream too)! 

All three candles out in one breath

Even with the quick switcheroo due to the weather, everything went very smoothly. We had twenty-eight people total despite having it on a Tuesday, and I was definitely thankful so many of his friends could make it to make his birthday special. Hopefully it will be a party he'll remember!