This year Jonathan requested a Train Birthday Party! I have been trying HARD to get him to agree to having a party anywhere else but at our house...last years two weekends in a row of large parties wore me out!!! But, I had no luck. He was very adamant on what he wanted. So Michael and I agreed to have one more at home party, and we would make a good one, but NO MORE after this! Thankfully, Jonathan agreed.
Very generously, Jonathan suggested that we celebrate Ben's birthday at the same time - "lets make it a double party!" :) He had no idea how relieved we were to hear him say this! Having 2 sons with their Birthday's 1 week apart, is always going to be a little challenging, but this year, Jonathan made that part easy on us!!!
I started planning back in January! I looked up "train party" on my favorite site, Pinterest. I found all sorts of cool ideas, but best of all, I saw something I had never seen before, a Trackless Train! I quickly went to Google.com and searched to see if such a thing existed in DFW!! I was surprised that 4 local companies offer the Trackless Train to come to your home!! So we reserved it right away!!! Pricing wise, it was only just a hair more expensive than renting a bounce house! Jonathan even got to pick what type of train he wanted, as there are several different options. I was pleased when he picked the "Vintage Steam Train", that was my favorite too!
With the parties main entertainment setup, we just had a few more things to plan...and finalize the guest list! The guest list just kept growing! We invited just over 115 people! Crazy right? Jonathan wanted both Pre-K classes at school, that is 16 kids each, plus their parents. Not to mention family, close friends and Ben's friends...it just was hard to draw the line, especially since we didn't have too! I am so happy who was able to come! The boys, Michael and I had such a good time! Thank you to everyone for coming!
The Trackless Train!! We rented it for an hour. The Conductor drove it up and down our street, carrying as many kids and adults as could fit! I believe Jonathan road every single ride! Ben road at least half of the time! It was so worth it! A beautiful & fun day with friends and family!
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| The train!!! |
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| Jonathan and the conductor! |
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| Michael, Ben and the Conductor. And Lily photo bombed! |
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| The Birthday boy is loaded up for his first ride! We gave all the kids Train Conductor hats at the beginning of the party! |
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| Turning around! The Conductor took us down our street and back! |
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| Still turning! |
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| Some neighbors came out to see what was going on, the kids loved waving at them! |
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| Will, Amy, Scarlet, Jonathan, Miles and Brady! (Miles and Brady are J's 2 best buds!) |
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| Benny is waving! |
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| This is the last train ride. Everyone shoved in, so it is very crowded! But they loved it! Kathryn is holding Ben for me! |
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| Grayson and Jonathan!!! Grayson is also one of J's best bud! |
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| Riley, Taryn, Chloe, and Sabrina! |
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| Cutie Brady! |
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| Jonathan and Gage! Gage is another one of J's best buds!!! |
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| Gage's daddy, our neighbor is holding Ben for me on this trip! (I did get to ride a lot too, but I couldn't go on every trip, so I needed help with Ben!) |
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| Aunt Anna Marie and Jonathan!! |
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| The train pulling up to the driveway, all the kids are lined up to get on again!!! |
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| Love all these kids! Brady, Taryn, Lily. Blayne and Avery. (Quincy is the mom to the left, she is Blayne's mom!) |
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| 'Sup Will? |
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| Some of my favorite guys!! |
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| Jonathan telling Aunt Anna Marie a good story! |
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| Sweetie Boy! |
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| This was the first ride! Ben had just gotten hurt and then I tossed him on here, he wasn't happy! But he cheered up real quick! |
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| Miles, Taryn, Jonathan and Scarlet!! |
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| The mommy and daughter car: Kirsi holding Mazie, Shelley holding Mallory and Halle and Barbara holding Jill and Avni! |
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| Me holding my sweetie Ben! |
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| Jonathan with Gage on once side and Elizabeth on the other - we believe these 3 will go to the same school next year!! |
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| Pat/Gran taking a picture of Michael and Ben! |
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| Ben showing off his new Spider man bubble blower! |
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| Waiting patiently for the train. |
Fun in the Backyard!!! While the train was running up and down the street, the rest of the party was in our backyard!!
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| My BFF Kathryn and her husband Erik! |
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| Aunt Holly! The only extended family, from my side, that was able to make it! We are so thankful to her for taking the time to come!!! It meant so much to the boys (and me!)! |
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| Wide shot of the backyard! |
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| Benny with Gage and Riley! |
Cake and Presents time!
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24 Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting topped with Mini-Oreos!
24 Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting, topped with with Chips Ahoy! |
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| Yum! |
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| Jonathan's personal cake! I made both the boys cakes (but not the cupcakes). I tried making a train shaped cake, per Jonathan's request, but it wasn't turning out and I was out of time! So thankfully he liked the idea of M&M's on a small round cake and a train candle!!! |
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| Benny's cake! |
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| Me with the cakes! |
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| Love J's smile! (Thank you Kathryn for taking these pictures!!!) |
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| The boys and their cakes! |
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| BLOW! |
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| Great family pic!! |
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| The boys eating the M&M's!! |
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| Sweet birthday boy! |
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| Ben getting after his cake with a spoon!! |
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| All is quiet across the backyard, as everyone stops to eat! |
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| Love the girls on the swings eating ice cream! |
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| Quincy feeding cutie Briley ice cream! |
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| Tons, and tons, and tons of gifts to open! We were overwhelmed and so thankful!! |
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I love how all the kids crowd around to see everything!
Oh and you can see Jonathan's shirt I had made in this pic! Ben has one too! |
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| I think Ben loved all the books he got the best! |
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| Presents!!! |
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| Amy taking the kids for a ride! |
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| Will giving Ben a good-bye hug! Sweetness! |
