Macklin's 2nd Birthday: Trains, Trains, Trains

Saturday was Macklin's Train-Birthday-Party and we had an absolute BLAST! When I say this boy is obsessed with trains I mean he's OBSESSED with TRAINS! To make his day extra fun and full of trains, we hired a trackless train to ride everyone around the neighborhood, had motorized trains for riding in the driveway, and enjoyed lots of train-themed treats like train suckers, train sippy cups and and locomotive juice (lemonade & sweet tea)! Below are some photographs of the festivities and a few links for some great idea sites I discovered while gathering inspiration for the celebration.

It was EXTREMELY windy so we set the "Dining Car" up next to our garage doors. Not the back-drop we wanted but we also didn't want all our yummys to blow away!  

We opted for a simple sheet cake that was marble cake with vanilla cream icing. In our transition of the "Dining Car" it cracked but we managed just fine. I added the "2" candle and the train to the cake--I found the train candle holder at trainparty.com--great website!

The favors were train-shaped crayons, candy and a cute engine train tag I made. I just searched the Internet for train images, added a personalized message and printed in color. 

Here's our homemade train crayons. If you'd like to make some of these yourself, check out this post for the instructions. They are really fun to make and Macklin had a BLAST helping!

I found the Railroad Crossing sign at trainparty.com and made signs for the other areas out of construction paper. I used a Martha Stewart train hole-punch I found at Michael's to decorate the edges of the paper.

The caboose sippy cups and train suckers were my favorites! Both came from orientaltrading.com and they were a HUGE hit! Everyone took a caboose sippy cup home with them and the boys enjoyed sweet tea all day in their cups--they're really cute!

The biggest success of the party was the trackless train courtesy of ABC Concessions. The conductor drove all the party guests all over our neighborhood and it was AWESOME! Macklin wanted to keep it forever but I was able to convince him that we had to let it go to the next little boys party!

Thanks to babylifestyles.com, hostessblog.com, cometogethercards.blogspot.com and tomkatstudio.blogspot.com for the inspiring ideas!

Pin It

Macklin's 2nd Birthday: Train Celebration

When it came time to plan Macklin's 2nd birthday party I knew instantly we would have a train party. This boy, much like his older brother, is OBSESSED with trains! The biggest craze for him is Thomas the Tank Engine, like most little boys his age but, mommy wasnt' interested in a Thomas party. Dont' get me wrong, I love Thomas, just not plastered on party plates & napkins. I have some great pictures of the train-theme but here are some the pictures of the celebration--it was a great party!





Pin It

Chugga Chugga Choo-Choo

 

Mommy is EXHAUSTED but the train party was a BLAST! I promise to share lots of photos, party ideas and some of the fun sites I found while I was planning this celebration next week but right now, Mommy needs a nap!!

Pin It

Cupcakes & Presents Round 2

Having birthdays within a week of each other present quiet a challenge when planning parties--I should have thought about that a bit more before scheduling them so close to each other :) Actually, Macklin wasn't "supposed" to be born until April but we all know due dates are just educated guesses, right? Anyways. We celebrated Mackie's birthday with cake and presents and he had a blast! Check him out...

Happy Birthday Macklin! We can't wait for you to see your birthday party surprise!!

Pin It

Happy Birthday Mackie!

I can hardly believe this little guy is 2 today! It seems like yesterday we were finding out we were expecting, then finding out he was a "he" and mulling over his name right up to the week he was born--times does go by too fast!

He is so very different than his brother but also the same in many ways. He is wide open, always moving, kind hearted yet a little in your face, compassionate, and HILARIOUS! He's the life of the party and loves to meet new people. He has brought a lot of joy to our house (and a lot of fights too) and we are blessed that God choose us to be his parents.

Happy 2nd Birthday Mackie-Moo!

Pin It

More Birthday Fun

Today was Grant's 4th birthday party at Head Over Heals Gym. It was a pirate themed party, hence Jackson's cute pirate mask in the photograph. He takes gymnastics at Head Over Heals so he was excited to get to go there for the party. He tumbled, rolled, balanced, jumped, dove, did the zip line, crawled in foam blocks--you name it, he did it and LOVED every bit of it!

Pin It

Cupcakes & Presents

I think I'm still in shock that I am the mother of a 4-year old. Where did the past 4 years go? It seems like he was just born but he's 4--how can that be? Jackson is the sweetest, most caring and fun boy and I am so thankful that he's mine. Some days I feel like I haven't accomplished anything and I tuck this little guy in the bed and he says, "Mommy, I love you" and I forget about the dishes, laundry and floors and just snuggle with him. He is one of my greatest accomplishments and I can't believe he's already 4!

We decided to have a family celebration on his birthday with cupcakes and presents. He was VERY excited, mostly to have us sing "Happy Birthday" and to see if he had gotten turntables (not the old-timey type of turntables you're thinking--you'll see below).

Here he is while we're singing "Happy Birthday". Can you tell he's pretty exited! He laughed at Macklin the entire song because of this..... I think Macklin got "Happy" out of his mouth and then decided it was time to eat his cupcake. And, by eat I mean devour--he couldn't stop eating it, not even to play!

Jackson got Thomas DVD's, dinosaur eggs, a Thomas the Train Peez set, a tackle box and fishing gear, beginner golf clubs and yes, a turntable. It was a fun birthday celebration and the cupcakes were good--just ask Mackie! Happy 4th Birthday Jackson!

Pin It