Choo Choo, James & Patrick turned TWO!!!

Disclaimer: this is more of a whole party post, rather than just a cake post, so it's rather long...hope you enjoy! :)

My sweet baby boys (who are no longer babies!) turned TWO this past weekend! I cannot believe 2 years has past since they were born - time flies too quickly.  Here is a picture of our little munchkins on a Costco trip, taken by dad, shopping for birthday party beverages last Friday:


Patrick on the left, James on the right.

You guys make us proud with every new word you say and everything you do...we love you!

Their birthday party this year was a Thomas the Train theme. A little background on why...a few months ago, my Aunt Maureen and sweet cousins Jay and Caroline delivered a car-load of Thomas toys, including a handmade train table by Uncle Greg, while the boys were napping one day. When they woke up from their nap and came downstairs to the train table and all the trains, that was it - they fell in love with Thomas and Friends!

They've somehow managed to learn all of the trains names (meanwhile, a lot of them look alike, so my husband and I are still confused with some of them!), they sleep with the trains at night and take them to the doctors office and to daycare...they LOVE these guys! Hence, the birthday theme!

The Invitation


Invitation by my sister Kate at Pretty It Up

Originally, the party was to take place at a nearby farm, but had to be changed at the last minute, so it was relocated to Grandma Susan (of the Daily Suse) and Grandpa Patrick's house only a few minutes away. We were going to do hayrides and pumpkin picking at the farm, so as not to disappoint our littlest guests who may have been looking forward to those activities, we made a little pumpkin patch in the yard and a section for hayrides in a little red wagon on the driveway.

Decorations and Party Activities


Welcome sign on front walkway by Kate at Pretty it Up



Front Door fall decor by Susan of The Daily Suse, Balloons from Party City, Thomas "Choo choo, we're TWO!" sign made by me :)

The back deck, all ready for the party! Scarecrows from Home Depot!

Our hayride! Bales of hay from Michaels and the twins own Radio Flyer Wagon.

Gorgeously orange little pumpkins waiting for little guests to take them home!

Patrick pointing to the "punkin's" on the Pumpkin Patch sign by Kate at Pretty it Up!

Party Fun!
The party kicked off with snacks & juice boxes for the kiddos and some grown-up appetizers as well - then came the hayrides, pumpkin picking, playing house, drawing on the driveway in chalk...and a visit from Thomas the Train himself!
 

Snacks, Hayrides, Fun!

Thomas the Train comes for a visit - tent madness ensues!

The Cakes!
You know I had to make 2 cakes! When we brought the boys home from the hospital after they were born, we named a color for each of the boys so that everyone would have an easier time telling them apart until we were sure we could do without confusing them. Now we can definitely tell them apart, but the colors have stuck with them - from their clothes, down to their pacifiers (uh-oh have to get rid of those soon), their drinks cups, their backpacks! Patrick is green (for St. Patrick) and James is blue.  So I made a Percy train cake because he's green and of course a Thomas train cake for the blue!

Percy Train



Thomas Train

One of my favorite pics...James reaching out to touch his train cake to see if it was real! He and Patrick both kept trying to pick up the trains to play with them!!


James touching Thomas's nose!



We sang a LOUD chorus of Happy Birthday to the boys after which they clapped and cheered like crazy! Their cousins helped blow out their candles and then everyone chowed down on cake! Thomas was vanilla cake with chocolate frosting/filling and Percy was chocolate cake with vanilla frosting/filling. 

 

After cake, we handed out goodie bags filled with train related treats - each little guest got a conductor hat, a train whistle, a Thomas sticker, Thomas bubbles and a rice krispy treat shaped like a train! We also gave out Oreo cookie pops drizzled with green & blue chocolate.

It was such a fun party - Patrick and James had such a great time! We're so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends to celebrate with! Can't wait till next year!

Here are my two favorite pictures of the boys from the party.

Pure joy and pure sweetness...