Two Years Old - The Official Day

August 24, 2010 - Owen turns 2!

I can’t believe my little boy is two. I thought the first year went fast, but the last 12 months seem like a blip. I wanted to make sure that Owen had a great birthday – especially since he is at an age now where experiences like presents and cake are not only enjoyable but also exciting.

The night before Owen’s birthday, Steve arrived after working a LONG day. He had to wake up at 4am EST (1am PST) - work the day – commute home – join us for Owen’s evening routine (dinner, bath, play, books, etc.) and then after Owen was in bed, birthday chores. I wanted Owen to wake up and have all his news toys ready for him to play with – meaning: out of the box and put together. Steve was a trooper. As soon as Owen’s head hit the pillow (Owen doesn’t use a pillow, but go with it) Steve and I jumped into birthday action.

I went into the kitchen to make his birthday cake – a choo-choo cake – which was a practice run for his party on Saturday. I wanted to see if I was even capable of making this thing resemble a train and thought I could make the train engine for his real birthday and if it worked, I’d make the engine again plus 3 or 4 cars for his birthday party. The engine was by far the hardest part of the cake, so if that turned out ok – I was confident I could do the rest.

While I was cake making – Steve went into the toy room and started putting together all of Owen’s gifts. This was no easy task because one of his gifts was a train table that required assembly of the table with two drawers as well as a very involved track system. We were able to get it all finished by 11pm and we headed off to bed – Steve put in a 22 hour day when all was said and done.

The morning of his birthday, Owen got to walk down the stairs straight into his train set. I love watching that little boy’s eyes light up when he sees something he likes. It’s probably a good thing that Steve and I aren’t millionaires or he would be seriously spoiled. We played with that for a long time until Nana arrived and we opened even more gifts. Owen got so much great stuff this year. He got a Radio Flyer My First Scooter and Big Flyer (big wheel), a garbage truck, a LeapFrog Laptop, a fire truck and a Play-Doh set from Mom and Dad. Nana gave him a play tent, a helicopter, a roller bag/backpack in the shape of an airplane and an activity table with chairs. Uncle Michael, Aunt Kelly and Cousin Audrey gave him a choo-choo video all about real trains.

Owen was in heaven. He loved (and continues to love) all his gifts. It was hard to pull him away, but we piled in the car and headed up to Remlinger Farms to celebrate Owen's big day.

This was our 3rd trip there (Nana's 1st) so Owen pretty much knows the drill, but we were still able to incorporate a couple new experiences into the day. We did the old standby’s – the mini steam train which is probably Owen’s favorite thing at the park.

The pedal cars (sitting on Dad’s lap) are always fun. Playing in the old fire engine and school bus never gets old – Nana even snuck a kiss in through the window of the fire truck!

Driving the antique cars is probably Owen’s 2nd favorite part, however the park was busier this day than it usually is when we go so we weren’t able to ride them over and over (Owen was sad about that.)

For a change of pace, Owen rode the spring horses for the first time – he seemed to like them! Dad rode the pumpkin ride with him (think Dumbo ride at Disneyland, but pumpkins.) Mom rode the barrel ride (think teacups, but barrels) and this ride was probably Owen’s least favorite (Mom’s too.) Barf-o-rama. Thankfully, Owen only wanted to ride that one once!

As you can see, Owen had a great day. A little sun and a lot of fun makes Bubba a tired boy. He took his “nap” in the car on the way home. When we arrived he was energized enough to blow out his candles on his choo-choo cake (and eat a good sized piece too.)

Happy Birthday, Owen! We love you!!!!