Day Out with Thomas

Mom, Walker, Jake, and Thomas the Train My loves

We rode in the air-conditioned cabin, but it was still so hot!! Can you tell?

Walker loved his first train ride!

Jake was in charge of the map, and he took his job very seriously.

Pre-allergic reaction. The eyes were starting to get red and swell here. :(

Jake vs. Sir Topham Hatt

We spent this past Sunday, Walker's actual birthday, on a day out with Thomas the Train. My mom came along for the adventure, and I'm so glad she was there. Walker ended up having an allergic reaction to the sunblock that I put all over him, so Tyson, Walker, and I ended up having to leave Mom and Jake at the Railroad Museum while we rushed off to find some Benadryl. We were probably gone for about 45 minutes, and Jake hadn't moved an inch from the train table he was playing with when we left. He was in Heaven! I'm pretty sure he didn't even know we were gone! I'm so glad mom was able to stay with Jake; we were concerned about Walker, but we didn't want to ruin Jake's fun, too. Walker ended up being ok; his face broke out in hives, his eyes swelled up, and his nose started running. Tyson said he looked like "Hitch." It was pretty scary; even the firemen at First Aid were freaked out! Poor baby. I felt like the worst mother ever!

Despite the allergic reaction, we all had fun...even Walker. Jake has sort of phased out his Thomas the Train obsession, but it was still so exciting for him to see the "real Thomas the Train." On the other hand, he wasn't quite as excited to meet Sir Topham Hatt. Jake did fine as we waited in line to see him, but the little boy in front of us freaked out, and it just snowballed from there. My mom scooped Jake up, though, so I could snap a picture and he clutched her neck so hard, I thought she was going to pass out. Ha!

What a memorable 1st birthday it will be! ;) Anybody have any good suggestions for hypoallergenic sunblock?

"Happy Birthday, Dear Daddy"...

Happy 31st birthday, Tyson! We love you!

Walker's 1st Birthday Party!

The birthday boy! Walker loves his Pa Pa! Ok...maybe I should reconsider getting his hair cut! ;)

The Target cake

The smash cake. I think it's supposed to be a snail.

Sweet Ellie.

They were "fishing."

Then, they decided to go "fishing" in the baby pool.

We love Ginger!

Tanner and Kesha

Bricen with his pretty blue eyes.

The 3 Amigos

Someone decided to go skinny-dipping. :)

"Dr. Ryan" and Brant-Brant

Walker wasn't quite so sure what to do at first...

...so Daddy crammed it in his face.

And then Mama showed him how to dig right in.

I think he likes it. :)

This is more of Daddy's work.

The good thing about a pool party is that the birthday boy got to rinse off in the pool after the cake debauchery!

Opening presents!

The Publix cake. We ended up eating it...after everyone made fun of me for being so crazy about it. Ha!

Will we ever get a family photo with everyone smiling or even looking at the camera?

Today, we celebrated Walker's 1st birthday with a party at our neighborhood's pool pavilion. When choosing a location, I had no idea what the weather would be like, but I figured if it wasn't warm enough to get in the pool, we could always go play at the park right behind the pavilion. Once the kids spotted the pool, though, nothing or no one was going to pull them away- not even hardly pizza or birthday cake! It was definitely the perfect place for a party!

We celebrated Walker's birthday with our "Birmingham family" (our best friends-the Bowers, the Bowens, the Turners, and the Maddens) since our family couldn't be here. (We're planning another birthday party with our family when we go home for Easter, though). I tried to get pictures of everyone, but somehow I ended up with a lot of pictures of my children, Tanner, and Bricen. Isn't that the way it always goes?

Walker had a blast at his party, and he really enjoyed his cake. It took him a little while to warm up to the sugary stuff, but it wasn't long before he was licking his fingers and scavenging for crumbs. :)

Speaking of cake, what a dilemma that ended up being! Jeez! You see, I had ordered Walker a t-shirt with this blue dot pattern that matched the plates, the napkins, the invitations, etc. Well, I wanted a cake that also matched so I ordered a cake at Edgar's Bakery, which is my favorite bakery ever; however, I got to thinking about it, "why would I spend that much money for a blue polka dot cake? It can't be that hard to make, right? I'll just go to Publix." Biggest mistake ever! I gave them the invitation to match and emphasized that the main colors were turquoise blue and lime green; long story short, when I went to pick up the cake, it was royal blue and army green!! It probably sounds pretty catty of me, but the cake is one of my favorite things about a birthday party. ;) Anyways, I spent much of the party day running around trying to find a replacement cake since I didn't want to get all confrontational with the lady at Publix and hurt her feelings. Crazy, I know. Luckily, I found a pretty decent polka dot cake at Target, and it ended up being delicious! I even found Walker a little smash cake that sorta matched the colors. :) Looking back, it was all a little crazy of me....ok, a lot crazy, but you only turn 1 once, right?

Cake dilemma and all, the party couldn't have been more perfect. I definitely missed our families, but I'm so glad my mom and our best friends could be here to celebrate our sweet Walker's 1st birthday!

Oh, and sorry for the picture overload...I had a hard time deciding which ones to pick, so I just included them all! ;)