Get-a-way

After almost 6 months of being a single mother every other week ;), Chad and I thought it would be fun for me to take Charlie down to Houston to visit my sister, Karlee, and her little boy, Boston, who is just 10 months older than Charlie. Boston's birthday is the end of May, so of course we decided to go down there for the celebration. But FIRST we had to make the 2 hour airplane ride down there. Charlie did fairly well, but he did get a bit antsy. He enjoyed sitting in his own seat and buckling and un-buckling his seat belt, standing up to get a FULL view out the window (turbulence or no turbulence). But we made it safely to Houston.

What a great surprise to have my mom and sister Kelli, come visit as well. We had alot of fun together. It was so great to see EVERYONE! We flew in on Monday evening and finished up ALL the party decor that needed to be done for the birthday bash the next day!

Boston wanted a train party, and Karlee asked me to make the invitation. I saw this adorable idea online and duplicated some of the ideas to make Boston's invitation. It is definitely one of my faves that I've done.

This party was ALOT of work. Karlee asked me to make cupcake toppers for her, food signs, a banner, etc. all for the big day. But it was alot of fun being able to play around and do some new things. Thank you, Karlee for the challenge. Karlee and I were on the phone and texting back and forth shooting out ideas back and forth for this party. It was SO much fun!

The day of the party came, and we were a little stressed out when we showed up at the park. It was EXTREMELY windy that day and so we had to "fix" alot of the decorations. #1-- you couldn't read the banner, because of the wind, #2-- we had to tape EVERYTHING down (plates, napkins, food signs, etc.), #3-- we had to find rocks to fill our jars with so they would stay put. It was very interesting. And not only was it windy, but it was very HOT too. Thank you Houston, for giving us such beautiful weather!

Here is part of the table decor. I LOVED these plates and cups, etc. It looked darling. And, yes, most of the stuff is taped down for the wind.The cupcakes

These were obviously meant to stand upright, but again, the wind.....

We used a cookie cutter to cut the sandwiches out with. I don't know why I didn't take the plastic off, BEFORE taking the pictures, duh!

The bubbles--party of the favors

The favor boxes

Then Karlee got each of the guest a train whistle, an engineer hat, a sugar cookie that looked like a train (not pictured), and the bubbles

The wind-blown sign that read "Boston's Train Station"

For a fun activity, Karlee had cut out trains from cardboard boxes and spray-painted them all white. Then she had the kids paint their own train. Then we were going to get some ribbon and strap the boxes to their shoulders.........well...........7 kids later, and 98 degree weather.........it didn't turn out exactly how we imagined..... oh well. But here is a picture of some of the kids trying, as well as their parents. haha

The birthday boy opening up his presents, and Charlie sweating nearby.....

The sister and her cute family, while we're singing "Happy Birthday"

The very hot and very thirsty birthday boy! Love you Boston!

There was a splash park right next to the park where the party was held, so we decided to strip the kids down and let them cool off. The kids LOVED every minute of it.

My mom (in the middle) was also able to see some of her most dear friends that she doesn't get to see a whole lot, now that they live away from each other...

(Nina-Houston, Mom-Louisiana, and Kathi-Singapore)

Then the party was over! It was successful, but way too hot!