Sorry for the zillion pictures here, but it's Elliott's birthday week and I can't help it. For his birthday, we made him a train cake with pound cakes of different flavors. Scott, Sandi, Kevin and Jillian came for the weekend and were immensely helpful and fun. Scott designed the curvy foil track, while Sandi oversaw frosting and decorating details. Elliott really enjoyed the train, and had fun eating the face off at the end.
playing piano	Toot Toot!	Happy Birthday! (we had around 22 people, so we made a pretty big dent in the cake)
Jasmine wants to help Elliott	Oh, a piano book!	Orin, Elliott's new friend
oooh! A slinky?	Wow, a letter train!!	Elliott gets "the fog train" and falls in love (it sounds like a foghorn when you press the button - even the 374th time!)
Ellen sent Elliott his very own rug	Wow, trains on it!	Kevin in his favorite seat
Every party album has to have one awful picture of the crowd, right?	bubbles!	A train table from Nana and Grandpa George!
"I eat a tiny tiny some?"	Elliott tries blowing on the candles	Jasmine helps (Elliott's still not sure why we keep setting cakes on fire)
Yum yum, chocolate covered graham cracker funnel!		Orin prepares to knock down a giant block tower (after taking up on his entire candy necklace)
Jillian takes a turn - smash!	Kevin demolishes a wall of blocks	Elliott's rug, a close-up
cutie	Kevin helps Elliott put on a puppet show	Mike, Scott and Jess put the table together after the kids went to bed, so Elliott woke up to this!
foam people Jess made for Jillian and Kevin	Kevin watches some guys remove our deck (it was rotting the siding - long story)	Scott helps Elliott play with his new table
The next day, we all went to the playground to goof off and blow off some steam before their car ride home.
I can do it!	Jillian tackles every element in the park!	having a relaxing moment
wee!	Jillian's hair goes a little crazy	going up?
Kevin masters the curving ladder!	Yeah!	Elliott slides solo!
Elliott's hair is going anti-gravity	..and so is Jillian's!	Back at home, Jillian holds the bunnies one last time - here's Clover
and here's Basil	aww... so soft!	Their car turns into a jungle after we fill it with extra perennials
Sandi's psyched, even if she has to share the front seat with some daylilies! (they left us with 3 big boxes of clothes, so it's more than an even deal!)	honk honk	Bye bye Jillian and Kevin! Elliott had a great weekend and still talks about them weeks later (I love this photo)
We all went over to Rachel's house for a little birthday party and some fun time on Friday.
Muffy, no lick Elliott!	The one that got away	Elliott eats a bazillion cherry tomatoes
oh!	How did this happen?	BRrrm! "Riding" on the tractor!
Playing with an airplane toy outside	This picture totally looks like Jess. Someday I'll scan in the photo that matches it.	Rachel's masterpiece!
"I feedin a muffy dog, she likes eatin dog food!" (yes, I know he's half naked - he's actually potty trained if he's naked from the waist down)	Elliott helps Rachel put the sprinkles and frosting on the cake	"Mmm, I like candy!"
There they go setting the cake on fire again!	Once a goofball, always a goofball	Mm, yummy!
Elliott discovered the candy necklace in his goody bag, and when I looked around the corner from washing the dishes, this is what I saw!	Silly goose	the last piece of caboose - yum!
Here we are visiting Jasmine
Gotcha!!	Jasmine tries to play leapfrog, but Elliott doesn't get it	Hmm..!
Aunt Michelle and family send Elliott an awesome alphabet dinosaur book	Ooh, a dino!	Jasmine visits, and after taking a dip in our cold little pool out back, the kids warm up in the tub