This year I decided to "do" our kids' birthdays differently. Hosting two birthday parties at our house within six weeks of each other last year about did me in. Our family alone more than fills our small living area, and Judson's party felt like deja vu, since it was the exact same people. :) Anyway, this year we had a few family members over to celebrate Cooper's birthday on her birthday (well, it turned out to be the day after, since she was sick on her birthday, as you may recall). Then, on September 28th, we had a combined party for the kids at the Molalla Train Park. I chose to have it a whole month before Judson's birthday because I was hoping for better weather. Ha!
A week before the party, the forecast was looking perfect. As the week wore on, the forecast got worse and worse. Some CRAZY storm had moved in and it POURED for days. Thankfully our friends are very good sports and everyone just dressed their kids in jackets and rain boots and the party went on. And, actually, it only sprinkled a few times in the three hours we were there. Thank You, God! Molalla is just far enough east that it missed the worst of the storm. (It poured all day in Salem. And you know it's really something when Pacific Northwesters are amazed at the amount of rain falling!)
Anyway, my parents had kept the kids overnight and there was a wreck on the freeway, so my kids were late to their own party. Not too late, though, and so were a number of other people coming from the north.
The party was a great success, as I hoped it would be! What little kid doesn't love riding trains?! (There were A LOT of little kids. Forty-four of us total and twenty-five were kids, mostly five and under.) The great part about doing it there was that I didn't have to plan any games or activities. Everyone took some train rides (one ride is close to ten minutes long...going next to a pond, over some trestles over more water, and so on...it's fun!), and then we ate lunch. Lunch consisted of lots of fruits and vegetables, pulled pork sandwiches, peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches cut into shapes with cookie cutters and then the edges were dipped in sprinkles (thanks for the idea, Amy! :), six layer dip and chips. Everyone seemed pretty happy. A couple of times during lunch, huge gusts of wind went through and cleared the tables, but other than that, it was great. :) I made cupcakes in ice cream cones because I always thought that was pretty cool when I was little. We served little ice cream cups with them, so I didn't have to worry about more paper products. I was pleased with how it worked out.
After that, there were more train rides and it was time to go home. We ran out of time for the kids to open their presents, but then they ended up opening a few from kids who really wanted to see Judson and Cooper open what they'd brought.
All in all, a really fun (and completely exhausting) day!!
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| My friend Darlene and her three kids |
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| Papa, Cooper, Morgan, and Macy |
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| Nate, one of Bridgett and Phil's foster boys, Judson, and Campbell |
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| Elise, Greyson, Logan, Jessica, and Max |
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| Part of Bridgett, Kristin, JuliAnn, the other foster boy, Matt, Madi, and Emmitt |
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| Max |
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| Part of Lisa, Chris, Ezra, Lincoln, Caden, and my cute crew |
Sometimes I just can't choose between pictures. Probably because I never have any where both kids are looking...
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| The first kids who finished eating. There was definitely some stick-wielding involved. |
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| JuliAnn took my camera at this point and got some really good pictures. Not saying this is one of them, but I need photographic evidence of my presence. ;) 24.5 weeks pregnant here. |
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| Nate unsuccessfully trying to light candles. Never happened. (Paul, Emilie, and Ella) |
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| During the birthday song |
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| Micki and her three kids, and my only shot of the cupcakes. Not that they were arranged nicely. I just wanted to transport them safely. :) |
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| Kristin...so much fun to have THREE cousins celebrating with us this year! |
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| Macy |
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| My parents bought this pink and white striped train hat and bandana for Cooper and I wasn't convinced she'd wear them, but she did for a long time. She was so cute! |
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| Two of the Fisher boys |
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| The Fisher family |
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| A view of the trestle |
My mom had my camera at this point and also got some great pictures.
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Bridgett was SO crazy brave to bring these three alone! The boys had only moved into her house the day before and have never had any discipline as far as anyone can tell. She literally spent the entire day chasing those three. (One of the boys even tried to just run and jump on a train as it went by.) |
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| My college crew |
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| This was a birthday card that doubled as a mask. Cooper loves it! |
We came home to the huge mess that I'd made in preparing for the party. We added gift-opening on top of it and it was a NIGHTMARE. Just keepin' it real. :) I won't even tell you how long it took this pregnant lady to get things back in order.
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| Cooper got a Cabbage Patch doll and was so excited about her new baby, Zoe. Anna gave her this adorable Ergobaby carrier and she is just too cute when she wears her babies around. I can hardly wait until we're both wearing our babies! :) |
