Katie's 4th Birthday Party

I know this is the same as my post on my blog, but it's what I've been spending a lot of my time doing lately. This really did take a few weeks of planning and preparation.

It's still another week and a half before Katie actually turns four, but since we are busy next weekend we had her birthday party today. We invited family and friends from preschool and church. Katie was very excited to help mommy make her cake. She did a great job. And, here she is with the finished product. The Thomas Tank Engine was a Snicker doodle cake and the freight cars were an orange mango cake. The freight cars were full of logs (pretzels) and coal (chocolate chips).
We started off the party by handing the children tickets and having the guests put together puzzles while waiting for more guests to arrive. In this picture are Alicia, Katie, and Sophie.
Then, after the kids had arrived and were settled the doorbell rang with a special package. It said -
To: The Kids at Katie's 4th Birthday Party; (Place)
From: Sir Topham Hatt
Tidmouth Station
Island of Sodor.

Some of the kids were excited to see what was inside of the box. Inside was a letter from Sir Topham Hatt.

It read:
Welcome to Katie's 4th Birthday Party. I have some very important jobs for you to do today on the Island of Sodor. First, you must prepare for our trip using the items I've sent in the box.
- Sir Topham Hatt Inside the box were Thomas Engineer hats and whistles.
Katie and her whistle and hat. What a very happy birthday girl!
Inside of the box was also a book that I had made. It was titled "Thomas' Adventures" and had Katie's Birthday Invitation on it with "Katie's Birthday Surprise" taped over the party information. The book guided us to where we needed to go on the path and each destination had another letter from Sir Topham Hatt. With the book in our hand we collected the tickets and were on our way.
Book: Our first stop is Brendam Docks. Can you follow the tracks to find Cranky the Crane? (With a picture of Cranky at Brendam Docks)
The kids were so cute and extremely excited when they saw Cranky.

Letter at Brendam Docks:
Cranky is feeling really cranky because the parcels he was unloading have fallen into the water. He needs our help to fish them out. As a special thank you, Cranky would like you to keep anything that you might catch.
-Sir Topham Hatt
The kids got to use fishing poles and put them into the water where they fished out the parcels. They were packages with fruit snacks inside; little fruit baskets!
Book: Our next stop is the Quarry! (Picture of Quarry). Thomas is waiting for you there. (Again, they were so excited to find Thomas)

Letter:
Thomas has been having trouble with the Troublesome Trucks. They have spilled all of his coal. Can you help put it back? Thomas would like to give you a prize for helping out so do your best.
-Sir Topham Hatt

There were black spray painted ping pong balls spilled on the floor that the kids got to pick up and toss into a wheelbarrow. Each of them got a sheet of Thomas stickers for a prize.
Book: Cinders and Ashes! There is trouble at Tidmouth Shed. (Picture of Tidmouth Shed). Can you find Percy and James inside? (We did not have a toy Percy and James, and there was one girl, Rubi, that kept saying "We need to find Percy, where is Percy?" so I felt bad when we read that part and had to explain that Percy really was not there).

Letter:
James and Percy are having an argument over what Thomas is hiding in his engine. Can you help them find out what is inside? I will let you keep whatever you find inside Thomas.
-Sir Topham Hatt
And, there was a pull string pinata there for them to open with candy inside.
Book: Thank you for being really useful in helping Cranky, Thomas, Percy, and James. There is one more place we need to visit, but the missing picture has been buried under an avalanche of snow in the mountains of Sodor. Can you find the picture and rescue any engines lost in the snow? (Here the picture was a blank piece of paper).

The kids followed the tracks inside up the steep mountain stairs, and into the avalanche room where we had "snow" on the ground covering engines and the missing picture with an Avalanche sign on the door.

Letter:
Some engines have fallen off the tracks and gotten buried in the snow. Can you help dig them out? If you look hard, you may even find the lost picture for the book. Good luck!
-Sir Topham Hatt
This may have been the kids favorite room. They saved all of the missing engines and the picture - of a birthday cake!
We then headed out to the dining room for cake and ice cream. Even though all of the kids except Katie look un-enthused they really did like the cake.
After cake and cream puffs Katie opened her presents. We did not get any pictures of that, but she made a haul. Tons of princess dress up shoes and items, a chef dress up costume, a Thomas the Tank Engine Game, a Zhu Zhu Pet, Littlest Pet Shop House, Foamies, Webkins, Throw 'n Splash game, cotton candy, Sleeping Beauty fun pack, and Sleeping Beauty Polly Pocket.

It was such a great birthday party. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. I'm glad that even with our busy schedules we put that much time and effort into it. I'm also glad we have two weeks before our next one - when Aubrey turns 2!