All Aboard! Avery’s 2nd Birthday

Avery turned TWO this past weekend.  It seems like just yesterday he was running around in his Superman cape on his First Birthday.  Ah, how time flies.  This year, we picked the theme ‘Thomas the Train’ for Avery’s Birthday Party.  Avery is all about anything with wheels; cars, trucks, busses, bikes, and especially, Trains!

Because I’ve been so busy with selling the house, working full time, taking care of Avery, and going thru a divorce, I was worried I wouldn’t have the time or energy to plan a party.  So a couple months ago, I asked for my Mom and Dad’s help – and man did they pull through (I had no doubt they would!).  First of all, they let me use their house for the party, which meant lots of space indoors if the weather was bad, and lots of yard space if the weather was good – and less stress on me for hosting it at my house AND all our friends and family that are in Vermont go to go!  Mom got all the food and decorations sorted out – I was able to add some as well.  And Dad made Avery the most amazing birthday present.

What I was able to accomplish myself was send out birthday invitations.  Honestly I really hate the invitations you buy and just write in the info.  I find it so inpersonal.  Avery only has a birthday once a year and other than X-Mass cards, I don’t send anything out to family, so I try to make his invitations something special.  Last year I made a Daily News Newspaper style invitation for his Superman Party.  This year…

Thomas the train invitations that look like tickets!  I designed them myself, printed them at my parent’s house, cut them with Mom’s cutting board, and with $25 worth of stamps, I sent them out..

For $25, not bad for the 35 invitations I sent out!  And P.S. to the USPS, you need to get more manely/boyish stamps – everything was hearts and flowers – luckily they had muscle cars as the only ‘boy’ option.

So, we drove up Friday night and on Saturday morning of the party, we setup for the party.  I planned the party for 3pm, because Avery typically naps 1-3.  Well, when he woke up and we dressed him up in his conductor’s outfit, he was very unsure of what was going on…

Avery was very shy and clung to MiMi for a bit… but after he got a balloon and sat on Grampy’s tractor, he warmed up…

We had streamers, balloons, decorations, and a VERY big gift table!  And we had the most amazing weather.. in the 70s… gorgeous fall day!

And thanks to Pinterest, and my Mom, we had a very fun Thomas Snack Train:

As guests arrived, Avery played with other kids and we got to visit with lots of family and friends.

My Dad got to meet Owen, my friend Kate’s (since elementry school) little boy.

The kiddos even had a couple rides around the house in the wagon.  Avery is sitting with my friend Joayn’s son (Jo and I have been friends since 2nd grade!)

Then it was time for presents….

Avery was much more into ripping open gifts this year… and as he opened each toy, he wanted to stop and play with it.

We had quite a turn out… family and friends watched as Avery spent an hour opening all the amazing gifts… cars, trucks, books, clothes, and of coarse Thomas the Train.

When all the gifts were done, it was time for Avery to see what Grampy had made him…

I think he likes it…

I had asked for a train table for Avery, and my Dad delivered.  He will use it for years and when the trains lose their luster as Avery gets older, Dad will build up the table leg height and Avery can use it for legos!

At my annoying request (yes, everyone whined when i asked for this), we got a group shot… and thanks to Nic, he got a nice shot of the mayhem as we got all situated..

And here we all are, friends and family celebrating Avery’s 2nd birthday!

Four Generations on the Valyou side (my Dad): Grandma & Her brother & Grandpa, Mom & Dad, Me and my Sis, and Avery.

Four Generations of the Johnson side of the family (My Mom’s side): Nana & Papa, Mom & Dad, Me, sis and our cousins: Bobby & Laura, Chris & Amber, and the great grandkids: Avery, Logan, Izzy, Issac, & Jacob.

Avery got to play legos again with his second cousin Lawson…(last time they played at my cousin’s wedding in August).

And then it was time for the piniata!  This one my Mom didn’t make because we bough a kiddie one that instead of swinging a bat, each kid pulls a string and one of them lets the candy out.  Avery was SOOOOO excited when he saw it!

A birthday party isn’t complete without a cake…. an amazing Thomas the Train cake MiMi made for Avery…

After we sang happy birthday, Avery knew what to do…

This past week, Avery has been saying ‘Happy to you’ – his version of happy birthday to you… so cute!

Before the evening ended, I took some pictures of my closest friends that I’ve known forever.  My sis, my friend Megan (who I haven’t seen in, what 13+ years?) but she blogs too so we keep in touch!  She even sent a penguin to Avery from Antartica last year where she was working!, and Joayn, who went thru all of school with since 2nd grade and we’re still super close.

And then… we were photo-bombed…

Me and Jo and our boys…

We ended the night with a bon-fire.  On Sunday the back of my car was stuffed with gifts…

Thank you to all our friends and family that came to the party and sent generous gifts!  Avery’s favorite gifts so far are the trains and table, legos, police car, and last night he was allll about the monster trucks!

Happy 2nd Birthday Avery!