Saturday, July 25, 2009

The Thomas Party

Preston's party started off with all the kids playing with the toys.
I had set Preston's train out, but the kids played with just about everything except the train.
Even little girls were playing with the tool set.
Or playing the piano.
Eventually we decided to break out the Thomas coloring pages.
Everybody seemed to enjoy that.
It kept them busy for a very long time.
Then they wanted to hang their work on the fridge to show off to everyone.
It was amazing, it even kept the little ones entertained.
After the excitement of the coloring pages wore off we all ventured out into the backyard for bubble blowing.
Britni was gracious enough to help me out with that.  She's pretty much the best bubble blower ever.  Seriously.
All the kids had a great time chasing the bubbles.
It's too bad it didn't catch Preston's attention for that long.
Or anyone else for that matter.  Something new caught their attention...
a little frog that was hiding out in the grass.
They shared well
and each took a turn holding it.
Except for Preston.  He was too excited about filling his dump truck up with rocks.
Tesila was nice enough to keep him company.  Oh, and do you like how our kids aren't wearing any shoes?  Nice, huh?
Then of course another distraction came along.
The girls absolutely ADORE Bentley!
If you couldn't tell?
A little more playing in the grass happened
Then we decided to play a game.
Who knew "Red Light Green Light" would be so intriguing!  They didn't even try to win, it was funny.
We finally made our way back in the house for a story about trains.
At least it caught the attention of the older kids.
But the minute we said the word "cake" their attention span was gone.  Poor Preston had been waiting to eat his Thomas cake since the night before.
Unfortunately when it was time to blow out the candles he wasn't quite sure what to do.
But when it came to eating the cake, they all knew what to do!  Look at little Sawyer digging right in.  I had to give him an extra helping of frosting on top before I even got my cake! ;)
It turns out having them sit on blankets was a good idea.  To clean up all I had to do was take them outside and shake them... then wash them of course, but that's easier than mopping. ;)
Preston was sooo happy!
He just loves making a mess of himself.
What a silly boy!?
Of course after filling the kids with sugar they were ready to go once again so Ramsay kept them all entertained by blowing up balloons and then letting the air out so they would fly around the room over and over again.
Until finally Preston noticed the little stack of presents in the corner.  Everyone was more than happy to help him open them
and play with them of course.
While the adults chatted nearby
and passed the time by bouncing balloons in the air.
Don't worry, little Mateo didn't peep almost the entire time.
Poor Carter on the other hand was having a rough morning.  We were so lucky to have my mom there to help out!  At least he got in the Thomas spirit and fell right to sleep on Preston's new blanket after all the commotion was over.
After Carter woke up I wanted a picture of both boys in their train "gear."  They weren't too sure about it at first.
I wasn't suprised that Preston would be more interested in his train than getting his picture taken.
But finally I got one kind of decent one.  At least they were both looking toward the camera.  Oh, and isn't the Costco merchandise in the background lovely?
If you couldn't tell, everyone had fun!  Even if they were tired...

The Thomas Party - Preparations

For Preston's birthday this year I once again attempted to make him a cake.
Luckily my mom was here to help guide me along this time.  She is a cake decorating pro!
I think it turned out MUCH better than last time.
Gabe put up some fancy streamers
and we filled the thomas bags with goodies for the kiddos.
Then we covered the table with a Thomas tablecloth and got it all ready for eating.
Preston got these train bath toys for his birthday so we added those too.
Then we filled the room downstairs with his presents and balloons.  His birthday was actually Tuesday, but we waited until Saturday, the day of his party to let him open his presents so he didn't think he had two birthdays.
He walked down when he woke up in the morning and saw all of the balloons.
He LOVED all the balloons.
As you can see, he didn't even notice the presents at first.
When he did find them he was very excited to get a train set.
So excited that he wanted to play with it right away...
and build the entire track, with daddy's help of course!
My mom enjoyed holding sleeping Carter while Preston played.
Finally he decided to get back to the presents.
He had a harder time with the wrapping paper.
Look at that concentration on his face.
Yay, a Thomas DVD.  There was definately a theme to the day
and the presents were only the beginning.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Kangaroo Farm

For Playgroup we went to a Kangaroo farm, so of course I had to wear my new "KangaRoos" for such an occasion.  Too bad they got kind of dirty. ;(
The first thing we saw was a really big turtle, Preston absolutely loved it!  Oh, and yes, he is wearing a purple sweatshirt, lavendar actually.  I didn't realize how cold it was out, and didn't come prepared.  I'm pretty lucky my friend Britni does.  Thanks again Dalia for letting Preston borrow your slightly girly sweatshirt so he wouldn't freeze to death on that cold summer day... The day AFTER we went to the beach I might add.  :)
The guy who worked there wasn't Aussie as you might think, but he sure looked like he was from the outback while he fed that humongous Kangaroo.
Preston liked the big momma kangaroo.  He always crouches down to animals and talks in a baby voice "Hi Kangaroo!"  Yea, I know, he's cute. :)
We also got to see an ostrich.  He told us to not get too close though.  Apparantly they're not very friendly.
We also saw some of these beautiful birds walking around.  I love Peacocks!
This little mini goat kept following the kids around.  He was pretty fast at getting away when they tried to pet him though.  Isn't he adorable?!
They also have llamas on this farm, which was probably one of Preston's favorite parts.  Isn't he cute?  The llama.  I guess Preston's pretty cute feeding him too.  :)
Preston loved this black goat too.  I don't know what it was about him.  There was a brown goat that kept trying to eat all the food, so Preston was just looking out for the little guy.  He kept yelling at the brown goat to go away and would only give the food to this one.
After that little adventure we stopped by my favorite mexican restaurant.  While we waited for our food Preston enjoyed eating chips.
Then when he got bored with that I gave him my lemon. (We were waiting for a long time)
At first he realized how sour it was
Then he decided he really liked it.  Did I ever mention what a strange kid he is?
Overall we had a really fun day, it was cool to see animals from a different part of the world without actually having to go there, even though I wouldn't mind if I could. :)  It was also fun to have my mom there with us too, she was very helpful with Preston and enjoyed the kangaroos just as much as he did I think!