choo choo

December was a little too crazy to plan and host a birthday party worthy of my little man turning three, so we opted for early January instead. Since we were in the thick of Cooper's obsession with trains (I don't think he asked to do anything else from about January to March), the decision on the party theme was quite simple! Not only that, but I found an amazing event designer's blog post about a train birthday party. I love recreating! Now, if I could have only made it an outdoor party in July... but I digress.

Not only was this blogger's party planning incredible, but she included free download-ables for the party (and even sent me a few more over email!). I love gracious people, and I loved these invites!

As is completely typical of me, I was ill-prepared throughout the process: our invitations were emailed instead of mailed, I was up really late working on the cake, my mom had to come over early to help me tie up a million loose ends, Curtis had to hang the streamers for me, and I was running around like a madwoman right before the party.

But then the guests arrived! Big and little guests. :) Along with lots of family, there were a bunch of Cooper's friends (Eli, Maddie, Campbell, Seth, Katherine, Anna, Mac, and more)- it was a great crowd!

People started jumping (the playroom in action!),

donning their red bandannas and engineer hats, 

and- of course- playing trains. It was all about trains- both an upstairs table and a (borrowed) downstairs table.

Then, I enlisted Curtis to gather the kids and play "Sir Topham Hatt" (if you have ever had a toddler boy, you are sure to know who I'm talking about).

They were totally enraptured. I decided that, from now on, we needed to wear a black hat and jacket when speaking to Cooper to ensure such cooperation.

He had them following him all over the house, blowing their train whistles and dancing. So cute!

"Follow the top-hat" ended at the table where we gathered for cake. All around the house and table, there was a multitude of blue and red, which made me happy. My obsessive side loved the coordination! Note the cupcakes: I was so pleased with how vibrant the colors turned out!

We had also had a candy buffet that I neglected to photograph (behind the kiddos)... it was a make-your-own party favor and it was a big hit! And, if the parents hadn't been so protective of their children's health, I wouldn't have ended up with 14 pounds of leftover candy!

The cake was really fun too.

The perfectionist side of my personality was very displeased with how rough the icing looked (a product of my rushed cake-decorating), but the fondant face turned out better than I expected.

Bottom line: Cooper was super excited about it and, really, that was all of the affirmation I needed! In fact, he seemed to be pretty thrilled about every aspect of the party... what a gift to us as parents, to feel like we hit the mark.

 

Blowing out THREE candles... craziness. He didn't even need our help!


He wasn't sure what to do with all of this attention,  but he enjoyed every minute of it.

 Although the hats, whistles, and bandannas ended up being grabbed out of their shipping boxes and passed out on the fly, THIS is how I had intended them to look. Cooper's friend Grayson wasn't able to come, so she got her put-together party favors a few days later... wouldn't they have been cute if I was more on top of it?!

Oh yeah, and Curtis and I decided that we should throw in some fake buck teeth too. Because everyone loves fake buck teeth, right? Thanks, Sara, for showing them off!

Happy Birthday party, Cooper!