…the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!  Every year Beech Mountain hosts the Land of Oz Festival the first weekend in October.  I have been wanting to go for a couple years now but it never worked out until this year.  All week we watched the weather forecast for Beech Mountain and as the weekend got closer the prediction got lower.  Not only did it snow and ice, but the wind was miserably COLD!  So, we pulled out the winter coats, scarves, gloves, and long johns and off to see the Wizard we went!

Did I mention…how cold it was?!  This was one of the trees on top of Beech Mountain

 

The view from the top of Beech Mountain which will soon be covered with snow for skiing

Professor Marvel

Mrs. Gulch was kind of scary :)  She asked Ella if she has seen Toto and Ella didn’t know what to think :)

Uncle Henry

Dorothy’s house (not in Kansas anymore!)

 

Not so sure about the tornado???

Ding Dong…the witch is gone!

We were definitely not in Kansas anymore…

  

Ella was so excited that she got to hold the “pretty witch’s” wand!

The great and powerful Wizard

At the end of the yellow brick road the Wizard gave out stickers that said “I’ve been down the Yellow Brick Road”…they should have also gave out stickers that said “I survived the Blizzard of Oz!”  LOL!  Even though it was below freezing, we had fun traveling down the Yellow Brick Road!!

And on that farm we had a…PARTY!! 

I had so much fun planning Evan’s first birthday party!  I was worried about what we were going to do for his birthday since we sold our house.  I saw some really cute Farm themed birthday pins on Pinterest (which I’m totally addicted to!) so I thought a farm would be the perfect place to have his birthday.  It worked out great because the weekend of Evan’s birthday party was also the first weekend of the pumpkin patch at the farm.  They had so many fun things for the kids…petting zoo, hay ride, corral maze, and corn maze.  Up until the weekend of Evan’s party, we’ve had beautiful fall weather!  Just my luck, the day of his party it was in the 50s and the wind blew like crazy!  We all had to bundle up!!  They normally have a bounce house for the kids but they couldn’t inflate it because of the wind…but I don’t think they even noticed because there was so many other things going on to keep them busy :)  Evan really enjoyed himself…I know he won’t ever remember his first birthday but hey, he only has a first birthday once so why not go all out! 

I love party planning but on the day of I often wonder why I subject myself to the torture :)  And a special thank you to Aunt Ashley and Uncle Matt for helping us with all the party chaos!  So for all you fellow party planners out there here are some of the party details…

The Cake (made by the fabulous Kristen Hudson)…  I have such a hard time cutting into her cakes because I feel like I’m damaging a piece of art!

 

 

The Smash Cake & Cupcakes:

  

The Decorations:

  Evan’s birthday hat and tee were made by The Pink Poppyseed.  She does amazing work!

The sweet picture of Evan was taken by my talented friend Emily at Emily Elrod Photography

The Menu:

BBQ sandwiches ~ pickles ~ slaw ~ potato chips ~ sweet tea ~ lemonade

Cow Tales ~ Haystacks ~ Cow Patties (Chocolate Oatmeal cookies) ~ Chicken Feed (trail mix)

Favors:  Farm-themed cookies, Farmer hat & mini pumpkin for the kids

The birthday boy!

Evan’s great grandpas!  We are so lucky to have such amazing men as grandpas!!  

 

A Little Farm Fun:

All bundled up and ready for the hayride!  These were the brave ones that fought the cold and wind for the kids!  

 

Caroline, Evan & Connor

Evan with Farmer Johnny Wilson on the BIG green tractor!

Mimi joined in on the farm fun too!

   The little pumpkins :)

Happy Birthday, sweet Evan!  I can’t believe a year has already passed!  We are so thankful to our family and friends for helping us celebrate this special day with Evan!  We love you Evan Thomas!!