Step 2: 1/31/10

Because Jake is SO fascinated with trains at this point in his life, for his birthday this year (which is coming up at the end of February), I decided we should do a party for him at the Birmingham Railroad Museum. The Museum is the same place that hosts the Pumpkin Express, which we took Jake to back in October. He was absolutely head over heels with all the trains, especially since he was able to actually ride on the train. And what do you know?...they do birthday parties! Perfect!

So Step 1: Decide what to do for his birthday and when and where to have it is complete.

Now bring on the fun!

Planning a birthday party for Jake is seriously one of the highlights of my whole year...like almost as exciting as Christmas. I really, really get into it. So I first sought out ideas for a "different" kind of party invitation. I wanted to do something different and fun, and when I saw a particular idea, I knew that's exactly what I wanted to do. I saw a photo invitation card of a little boy wearing a Train Engineer hat, and I thought, "This is it!" So I jumped on Ebay immediately and ordered one (for less than $3 bucks, by the way). I've actually had it for a couple of weeks now and have been waiting for decent weather to take Jake out and get some really cute pictures of him wearing his mini engineer's cap.

Today was as perfect as it has been since I can remember, so we got out this afternoon and made our way down to the railroad tracks with James the engine in tow. We were lucky enough to find an engine sitting idle which was just awesome!

So here are a few of my favorites...


There's a smile...


Being silly...


and even more silly...


Cheeeeeese!


We definitely had so much fun, even if we did have a "purpose" for being out there. Regardless of how the photographs turned out, it was just so nice being out together, enjoying warmer temperatures and the bright sunshine. But as it turns out, Jake was definitely on his best behavior and gave me a very hard choice to make about which photo I'll include with his invitation.

I think now, though, after long contemplation and a little bit of editing, I'm sold on which one I'll be using.

And on that note, Step 2: Design the invitation is also...complete.