Three Birthdays and A Trolley Ride

 
Our Little Lewie turned five on August 11th and instead of having one fun birthday party to celebrate his big day, our little guy had three parties!  Heck, we basically celebrated his special day all month long, which is the reason we've been MIA.

During the first weekend of August, we had Lewie's family party.  We invited our relatives from Delaware, in addition to our family in Connecticut, and had one fun-filled picnic with yummy strawberry shortcake. 

On the morning of his family party, he woke up and said, "Mommy, it's my birthday today. I turn five today." 

Being much too literal, I took out my calendar and said, "Well actually Lewie, your birthday is on August 11th, not today.  You'll be five in one more week."

Tears started to stream down his face, and once he caught his breath, he shouted, "You're wrong Mommy.  Today is my birthday."

After that, I decided to just go with it.  Really, what's one week in the grand scheme of things... A word to the wise...if you're going to celebrate your child's birthday early, you're gonna have to pretend it's early.

Lewie with his cousins plotting out when to sample some frosting.

A train cake of course!

Make a wish.

After a quick sampling.

Opening up his first present of many this month.

Wow, his own personal DVD player from Aunty Re Re!

 

Some water fun with his cousin Sarah!

The very next week, his actual birthday week, Little Lewie helped me make s'mores cupcakes to bring to his friends in school.  This was his second birthday celebration.

Did someone sample the chocolate?

You bet he did!  Me too!



The cupcakes had marshmallow fluff for frosting along with some gram cracker crumbs and a piece of Hershey's chocolate.

I have to admit that they were really, really good!

Last week, we had Lewie's "trolley birthday party," which consisted of 17 little friends and their families (40 people altogether).  This party, of course, was the one he looked forward to most.  Since Lewie's love of trains has only intensified over the past year, we knew renting a trolley for his birthday would make the perfect gift. 

For less than $200, the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven lent us their "birthday trolley" and set up tables for us, so we could have a pizza party on board while we all took a trip back and forth through the East Haven salt marshes.  During the middle of the trolley trip, we parked at the trolley yard so our guests could look at more historic trolleys while I set-up cupcakes in their small picnic area.

A picture w/ my Little Engineer at the house.  Do you like his costume?  He pretended to work on the trolley all day.



One more picture of him before the party.

The Birthday Trolley!
 

A view of everyone aboard the trolley.
 

Another view of everyone.

Lewie w/ his cousin and friends.

Chocolate mousse cupcakes.
 

Lewie made another wish here--he announced "to be with my family."
 

Setting up a "Thomas the Train" piñata.
 

He told us he couldn't celebrate because he was working.

My two engineers.

Coming home w/ presents.

The end of a fun day for my "hard working trolley boy."

 

The trolley party went by very quickly...so quickly that I didn't get much of a chance to talk to anyone.  I felt very fortunate, however, because when it came to both the set-up and the clean-up, my friends were there.  Dozens of people stayed after the party to help us load presents in the car, wipe down tables, and pack up leftover food.  I never felt so loved.

Then, at the very end of the day, when Lewie was just about to fall asleep, he called to me..."Mommy."

"Yes Lewie, what is it?" I asked.

"Today was the best day ever."

I knew then that, undoubtedly, the trolley birthday party was a success.  All the months of planning, the days of preparation, and the help provided by friends and family had truly contributed to my little boy's happiness.  Yay to an awesome birthday trolley ride and to an awesome birthday month!