Ian's 3rd Thomas Train Birthday Party

Let me start this blog post by telling you a story.

Once upon a time, there was a mother who was so fixated on throwing a Pokemon party for her soon to be 3 year old son. She was convinced that it was the best party theme for her boy, since the said boy could name every single Pokemon on the Pokedex. But unfortunately, every time she asked for his consent, the boy would resist and insist on having a Thomas party instead. Since he was so persistent, she conceded defeat, and started making preparations for a train party. One fine day, about two weeks away from the party, she started browsing through Thomas cake ideas on the Internet. She showed the birthday boy a few examples for his consent. Unfortunately, none of the cake made the mark. As she was scrolling through the pictures on her phone, suddenly the boy pointed out excitedly to a picture of a cake and exclaimed, "This Thomas!!" The mother sat there with her mouth gaping open, as her son was pointing to a Transformers cake. And suddenly it clicked. Due to his son's pelat dialect, when he said Thomas he actually meant Transformers.

*rolls on the floor laughing*

Yes, that was a true story, by the way. But in the end, we stuck to the Thomas party theme after all. (Sorry Ian, after all the preparations we made for the Thomas train party, I couldn't just magically change everything to Transformers in a snap of a finger! But Alhamdulillah, once we brought the trains out and he saw how it whizzed around the dessert table, he warmed up to the theme.) You can read about my Thomas Train party DIY adventures here.

Since I violated my own self-proclaimed rule of one party per year, I consoled my husband by promising him a small guest list and a simple no-frills venue. (He laughed when I said small guest list, but hey, I proved him wrong!) We had the party at McDonald's in Denai Alam, and I am so glad we decided to have our small party there. McDonald's was quite accommodating too; they allowed outside cakes and such. And since I told them that I would be baking everything on the dessert table, they agreed to let me setup my dessert table too. They even allowed me to plan the party room layout, and blocked the party area way earlier than normal so that I would have ample time to decorate the room. (Good to note that they don't allow costumes and outside entertainment during the party.)

Speaking of a small guest list, since Ian doesn't go to school thus has only one friend (his neighbourhood sweetheart, Dafiya), I decided to invite my gang pagar sekolah, Cahaya SPK gang, three of Aiden's best friends and our closest family to the party. Definitely the smallest party we've had to date!

The minute Ian walked into the party room, he beamed his best smile and ran to the dessert table. He got so excited, as he knew that the entire party was just for him... No sharing required! He was so happy, it made all our effort for his birthday bash, so worth while! It also made my heart strings ache for the baby that's no longer there. Ian, please don't grow up too fast! *sob sob*

Refused to leave the dessert table, hence he had his Happy Meal by the train tracks.

So sporting, he even agreed to put on the McDonalds birthday hat!

Held on dearly to the cake knife, as if someone wanted to take it away from him!

Anyway, I'm sure you're waiting for photos of the dessert table. Disclaimer though; since the table was already so crowded with dual way train tracks, I had to compromise on the number of baked goods and candy I could put on the table. Also, since the trains whizzed around the train tracks, I needed to make sure that their journey wasn't obstructed by any platters and such. Here's a video of the first ever interactive dessert table we've done to date!

The dessert table. While I was busy setting up, the McDonald's staff and even a customer came up and asked for my permission to take photos. The staff explained that they've never had such an elaborate themed party, while the customer wanted the photo for inspiration purposes. I do hope I've inspired her!

Here's a closer look.

Thomas 3D cake. Moist chocolate cake - Ian's favourite.

Rock candy spilled out of the tunnel. Green and blue Nutella macarons too.

Trains carried rock candy around the Island of Sodor.

James and Percy carried (pretzel) logs.

Thomas and Percy butter cookies. They were so popular, my hours of work disappeared with just one big bite! *giggles*

'Grass' vanilla cupcakes.

Thomas and Bertie the Bus also had their own track, underneath the cake stand.

A quick selfie before the kids tore the dessert table apart!

We also had a personalized milestone chalkboard, documenting Ian's vital details.

I also had a small corner to showcase my own birthday cake. A second moist chocolate cake (so that guests don't have to wait till end of the party to taste it) and a red velvet cake, both baked by yours truly. Till today, Ian still proclaims, "Ian's birthday Thomas, Mummy's birthday red cake!" *chuckles*

I am so glad we decided to stick to a small guest list, because even with a handful of kids, they literally took over the entire party room. (All parents got kicked out of the room and into the public area right outside where they had their adult meals.) Immediately after everyone finished their Happy Meals, the McDonald's party coordinator closed the party room doors so that the kids could play some games. Yes, not only did McDonald's provide goody bags for each kid, they provided two party coordinators to supervise the kids and arrange for games and gifts too!

Kids enjoying their Happy Meals. And just our luck, the Happy Meal toy that week was a Thomas train ruler!

Parents enjoying peace and quiet outside the party room. Gang pagar sekolah!

A quick photo with the Cahaya SPK gang. Can you see the party room in the background? 

They then closed the doors, and this was all we saw.

Ian insisted on joining a game of musical chairs.

Next up, it was time for cake cutting. In the weeks leading up to his birthday party, Ian had been humming the birthday song non stop! So when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to him, he was absolutely delirious with joy.

Check out Ian's happy grin. 

The impromptu hug that Aiden gave Ian. Siblings love!

They sang the Happy Birthday song twice.

Again with the pursed lips. Memang sampai esok tak padam lah, Ian! In the end, Aiden had to give Ian a hand.

In all the excitement, the cake must have moved quite significantly because the name topper fell. Aiden helped put it back, unfortunately terbalik!

Cutting the cake.

Last photo with the gang pagar sekolah. Thank you for coming, ladies!

The sole reason why I can never move out of Cahaya SPK. Love you girls!

At the end of the party, we discovered in dismay that we forgot to take a family photo during the cake cutting session!!! Terpaksalah amik gambar with bare cookies, empty cupcake platters and a handful of macarons.

It is exactly 90 days to Aiden's 7th birthday. And he's already asking whether he can start choosing a theme for his birthday. Aaaccckkk!!!