One Toddler, One Teen and One In-Between: My 2 year old colt had a spectacular showing on Derby Day!

I know I have said it before and I am going to say it again. I think it was so cool that Edison joined our family in Kentucky and celebrated his first birthday in the USA on none other than the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby! Since we didn't get to celebrate his 1st birthday with him, I wanted to make this one extra special.

The weather was not as cooperative as I had hoped, so like the horse - "I Want Revenge" I scratched the pony rides. The kids also didn't get to play with the giant plastic horse shoes I had purchased. While I was looking forward to the pony rides, I know that Beach Boy, Emily's miniature horse, is somewhat of a beach bum and he doesn't exactly enjoy giving rides to little boys and girls. I'm sure he was much happier standing out in the rain than he would have been giving pony rides to little ones!

Most of Edison's favorite little friends and many of his big friends came to celebrate! Of course, our theme for the big day was horses and Derby 135! I made use of the 135 Kentucky Derby logo, buying balloons and even making Edison a special t-shirt to wear on his special day.

Actually, my sister had purchased his t-shirt. The front of it said "Birthday Boy" and had a dump truck with toys in it. I added the derby logo and "Edison is 2!" to the back using my printer and t-shirt transfer sheets. It will be a keepsake for him if I can get the cake, punch and sucker stains out of it. That reminds me, I need to buy some SHOUT!

His cake had a horseshoe shaped rose garland and a banner that said "Happy Birthday Edison!" It also had a big gold 2 on top and was surrounded by little horse cupcakes. These were made by the Twisted Sifter in Perryville, Kentucky. They were adorable and the cake was DELICIOUS!

Edison was a wonderful "candle blower-outer". I missed the first time he blew out the candles so lit them again. I missed the second photo op too. Here he is checking out one of his "horsh" cupcakes. Did I mention that he loves "horshes".

Edison received lots of wonderful gifts. He got books, tub toys, trucks, balls, sidewalk chalk, clothes, bubbles and a bubble machine, a Diego tricycle and lots of money! Lots of people knew I wanted to purchase the new Step 2 Neighborhood Fun Center for his birthday. Thanks everyone for the gifts of money - they will go toward his Fun Center. It is a combination playhouse, slide, and picnic table and one side has a ring toss and ball game. It gets really good reviews and I can't wait until we get it. Hopefully the middle of May.... I'll post pictures of it as soon as we have it! Here is Edison opening his gifts and riding his new tricycle. Notice my t-shirt in the background.

Although the pony rides and horseshoes had to be canceled, the kids had lots of fun in the garage. We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, had stick horse races and beat the devil out of a pinata that ended up having to be torn open to get the candy out!! For some reason, I didn't have a camera when we were busting the pinata, but I did get a few photos of the stick horse races.

Miss Isabella was declared the winner of the stick horse race. She was the only little girl there and I knew she would appreciate the roses more than any of the little boys. She was so excited! She carried the roses with her through the rest of the party. Check out the stick horse Isabella is holding. I made those and they turned out really cute. It's amazing what you can do with construction paper, yarn and a stapler!

Before the end of the day, I gave Goodie Bags to all of Edison's friends. Inside were stickers, a ball, a birthday blowout, a noisemaker, a beaded necklace, UK tattoos, some candy, and a few other trinkets. The big hit inside the Goodie Bag were the glasses! Check out these hilarious pictures!

This is Isaac Clay

This is Kain and big brother, Cash

This is Ty

This is Dylan

and here is Kensley and Courtney
The day did not end when the party was officially over. My mom and dad hosted a Derby party for the grown-ups. My brother-in-law, Fred, grilled the most delicious chicken and we had lots of yummy side dishes. My niece organized a Derby Pot. Each person who wanted to participate put $1.00 in the pot and pulled out a derby horse name. I put in $2.00 and pulled out 2 names. I know that one was General Quarters and the other started with an A but I can't remember the name. I was feeling pretty good about having General Quarters and thought I might walk away with the $19.00 pot. There was one horse left and I decided to put $1.00 in for Edison. Well, guess who walked away with $19.00 more dollars...

It was EDISON, the Birthday Boy, he had pulled "Mine That Bird". We all watched in amazement as Mine That Bird maneuvered through all the other horses to Run for the Roses! Everyone started asking, who pulled that horse? I thought about it and said, "Edison did!" Of course, he had no clue that he had just won $19.00, actually when we showed him the money, he took two $1.00 bills and gave one to Cash and the other to Ty. His $17.00 will go toward his Neighborhood Fun Center! What a perfect ending to a wonderfully, perfect day!