Joy in our Journey........: The Big 5!

Hard to believe but on Friday my Buddy turned 5 years old. He came into this world in a dramatic moment of life and death and has kept us on our toes ever since! He has stretched me in ways that I never thought possible and at the same time brings more sweetness and smiles into our life then we could have imagined.
JA has been in love with cars and trains his entire life. Last year he had a Polar Express party and asked me if I could just do that exact same party again with the same kids this year....ha! He settled on just a regular train party and I started thinking over party ideas. As the party approached the thought of having a house full of high energy boys in the middle of winter made me nervous. A few weeks ago I heard mention of a brand new indoor trampoline place in town and the light bulb went off in my head.
Friday right after lunch (and preschool), 3 of JA's friends came over. We hopped in the van and drove to the Trampoline place. T had the day off, AL was at school and WR was napping with Grandma watching over him.
We spent an hour jumping. The place was almost empty due to the -42 temps and the fact it was during school hrs. It was hard to tell who had more fun, the kids or the parents ;)

Sorry all the pics are blurry but it wasn't possible to jump with a big camera around my neck.

JA was super excited to unwrap the guitar he has been eyeing up for months.

The boys loved ambushing T in the dodge ball zone

I got in on the action too ;)

The foam pit was super fun too

When I was 4 yrs old my Aunt made a train cake for my cousin's 1st birthday. The pics of that cake are still burned in my mind. When AL was 2 I made her a train cake and it was a ton ton ton of work and we were left with so much cake after the party. JA has been wanting this cake too. A few days ago it occured to me to use mini loaf pans and a mini muffin to make it instead of full sized one....genius. It turned out adorable and it was so fast to put together while he was at school, including a stop at the store for candy.

I went beyond basic and hung our birthday banner from Target and a Thomas the train table cloth and pinata. JA loved it.

After jumping we bundled up and drove the 10 mins home, the boys were wiped out. I swear they were half asleep in the car! We have had hideously cold temps and the kids have had indoor recess all week so they had energy to burn and I think we did just that.
They were so excited about the cake but they were so calm the rest of the time we had them there.

Singing Happy Birthday to himself

We headed to the basement for the pinata and added the loot to their goodie bags

JA was spoiled with some super fun presents. The boys played trains for a while until I drove them home. It was the perfect afternoon for my Buddy!

After the party we headed to the mall to visit Santa. We had to wait in line for an hr but the kids were so good cruising around the mall with T while I waited. I laughed when AL asked Santa for an Ipod and he asked her if she also wanted a car......lol! WR didn't want anything to do with Santa and was pretty unsure of it all.