Deciding the theme for Sam's second birthday party started way back in October! Since he seemed to be equally in love with fire trucks and trains, we couldn't decide if he should dress as a firefighter or a train engineer for Halloween. A lucky trip to Once Upon a Child yielded a nifty pair of railroad striped overalls just Sam's size, and just in time for trick-or-treating! It was destiny! So with Halloween covered, we decided to go with the fire truck theme for his birthday.
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| Cutie-pants railroad engineer at Halloween 2013 |
As January rolled around, we set to planning the fire truck themed party. In other words...a Pinterest board was created. We pinned party staples including flame decorations, games, favors, cakes and more. How did anyone ever plan a party before Pinterest? And our friend, Jill, just happened to pass down a really awesome toddler firefighter costume a couple of weeks before Sam's party. Once again - destiny!
The night before the party, we were hard at work pulling everything together. We could not have done it all without the help of our friend, Mary, who rolled the plasticware, hung streamers, got balloons, tied tags on favors, made the chili (of course there was chili!), and helped clean up! We've already reserved Mary for next year, in case any of you are thinking you can steal her. Because of her help, we were really able to enjoy our guests and the big moments of Sam's very special day.
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| Sandwiches, snacks and chili for our guests |
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| Hand drawn flames in our new "fireplace" |
Speaking of big moments, the one thing that we really wanted to do for Sam was have a real fire truck appear at his party. We had found websites where you could hire a fire truck for parties, but what a disappointment it was when we learned that pretty much all of them in the Orlando area had gone out of business. To add "fuel to the fire" (pun intended), Sam had broken his leg a few weeks before his birthday so we really wanted to cheer him up by doing something extra special at his party. We HAD to have that fire truck. So Shawn started by calling all of the area fire stations. The receptionists were quick to tell him that their trucks did not appear at birthday parties. But Shawn continued to explain that he was looking for connections to a privately-owned fire truck. "You see, my son is turning two and he has a broken leg..." And the sympathy card was played over and over again.
Finally, Shawn was able to get connected to a retired firefighter that had his own vintage Mac firetruck. This thing was PERFECT, as it looks a lot like Red from the movie Cars (also a favorite of Sam's). Sam was so excited when the truck arrived. He wanted to walk around it, get into the cab, turn the steering wheel, and climb all over it. The other children, and even the adults, were also very excited to see this classic machine. The owner was very kind and allowed everyone to explore every inch of his truck. He also enthusiastically answered all of their questions. As the cherry on top, he even took our little family on a spin around the block! We could have not have been more pleased!
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| In the belly of the beast |
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| Toot Toot! Coming through! |
Overall, Sam's birthday was a giant success! We are 2-for-2 and looking forward to another great celebration next year. Any ideas for themes? My Pinning finger is itching!
