Troy is THREE!

My baby turned three years old last week! We celebrated with a Thomas the Train party, of course! He invited his four best friends, one of whom was moving across the country that very day! My mom was also on hand to enjoy all the train-related festivities.

Our party kicked off with a train picture craft, followed by a thrilling treasure hunt! Okay actually... not so much. Turns out this age was a little young to fully grasp the excitement of even the most basic treasure hunt. Kate and Brooklyn had to shepherd them through the entire thing and basically find the clues for them. The prize at the end was these little candy trains.

Oh and the same goes for "Duck, Duck, Goose" when changed into "Chugga Chugga CHOO CHOO" - that was way too much for these little ones. Even those who had a pretty good handle on the original "Duck, Duck, Goose," which I knew Troy did, were totally befuddled when I tried to make them change the words to something more train-related. The rest of them didn't understand the game at all and mostly just wanted to run around in a circle. Which we did.

Later we played "Hide the Train" - a game of my own invention which needs no explanation because it really is as basic as it sounds. Even that one was a bust because, for example, when Troy's little friend found the train and it was his turn to hide it, Troy totally broke down because it was HIS train and he didn't want his friend to hide it. And when it was Troy's turn to hide the train, he placed it on the floor in the middle of the room and then told everyone he was ready before Kate could intervene. It was awesome.

The cake, of course, being a creation of my own, was bound to be a failure, but luckily Travis came home just in time to step in and save the day. Seriously, I don't know where that boy gets his mad cake decorating skills. They carry over to interior decorating and organizational skills as well - I don't know how I can sign myself up for that kind of talent pool. Anyway, the basic structure was my own little invention, but I am physically incapable of correctly frosting a cake, so he took over and here is the final masterpiece.

The highlight of the whole party, however, came from the illegal fireworks birthday candles my mom smuggled from Argentina! These things are like gigantic sparklers! They are not for blowing out, but they sure light up a cake! Especially a train cake, when placed in the funnel. (Troy taught me that that was called a "funnel," by the way. As a boy, he just knows these things.) The kids' reactions ranged from mild confusion to sheer terror, which was almost as fun to watch as the pyrotechnics themselves! Also the fire alarms went off.

In the end, a fun party! My ambitions get tamer as the birthdays roll on - so I think my low aspirations and expectations definitely helped keep this party low-key. Troy had a great birthday, so that's all that matters!

We found ourselves with a free morning on the day after his birthday, so my mom and I took Troy out for a little 3-year-old photo shoot. I'd been dying to see this farm, about a mile from our house, that we somehow have never visited in the past two years!

We were crazy about these rough-hewn logs! Seriously, you can't fake this kind of thing. This is the stuff of raw, old-fashioned manpower.

Troy is crazy for "Big Red Barns"

In case you were wondering, there are 26 Big Red Barns along the freeway between here and Utah.

(And those were just the ones we were awake and aware enough to count!)

He's been practicing his winking skills