Noah's Birthday- On Fire!

Saturday was Noah's 2nd Birthday Party and I dare say it was a success.  I was not totally stressed out, I had fun, Noah seemed to have fun, and our guests seemed to have a good time too.  Since Noah's actual birthday isn't until Tuesday we didn't know if he should get his presents from the Husband and I on Saturday or Tuesday.  We decided on Saturday and he got a Melissa & Doug play kitchen that only took about 4 hours to put together.  But it is super cute and pretty much no one played with it at the party, naturally.

HERE is my first post detailing where I got all my ideas and products.  I felt like I kept the firetruck party theme pretty simple.  The decorations and invitations were red, black, and white with a simple firetruck design.  I used ellow table clothes with red plates and napkins, and white serving dishes.  Yellow, red, and white balloons and yellow and red favor bags with black firetrucks stamped on them.    I think it worked perfectly and all seemed to coordinate.

The Details from Get the Party Started

I actually did make the cake.  I am not crafty but I can bake (or I think I can).  I am impressed with myself on this one.  I think it turned out awesome, better than I expected.  Just the fact that you can look at it and know what it's supposed to be is a score for me.  Of course, when I asked Noah who made the cake he said, "Babci made it."  (Babci is my mom.)  We settled that pretty quickly.  And by the way, I could not get my chocolate icing and Wilton's No Taste Red Dye to make red icing this time.  It was just brown.  Luckily I had a can of red icing and it worked great, though I got a blister from all those stars.  I felt a little like cheating, but it looked amazing and tasted good too.

I made the cupcakes too.  I was really happy when I found red, yellow, and black and white polka dot cupcake liners to go with the theme.  But I started to run out of vanilla icing so I used chocolate (which I eventually ran out of too and the Husband had to pick up more).  The chocolate just kind of ruined the color scheme for me, but I think that is getting a little picky, right?

How cute is this kid sporting his firetruck shirt? (from Lil Sha-Bebe)

I didn't have any games set up because the kids are two or younger.  I figured that it would just be a big playdate with cake and singing.  But I did mention something about a surprise HERE.

About two weeks ago, we switched Noah's car seat from rear facing to forward facing.  We didn't really plan when we would switch him, but one of the car seats was out of the car at the time and it just felt right.  A few days later I took Noah and the car to Parkwood Vol. Fire Dept to have the car seat checked.  While making small talk, the fire fighter inspecting the seat asked when Noah's birthday was, to which Noah replied, "Party!! Cake!"  He asked what type of party we were having and when I said a firetruck party he asked when, confirmed he was on call and offered to bring the truck over.  He said even though we aren't in Parkwood's district they love doing community things and kids parties.  I was ecstatic and the conversation really went down just like that!  But I also understand they have calls to respond to, like actual fires.  I didn't tell anyone but the Husband and my mom.  

A week before the party, they called to confirm they would come at 4pm!  So I sent out a lame email to all the party guests asking that no one park in front of our house.  Again, I didn't say anything to anyone. I wasn't about to jinx myself or have everyone waiting around for nothing.  No one parked in front of the house, and no one asked why, even though my email was sketchy.  

Around 3:45 on party day, Parkwood called and said they'd be over in ten minutes!  I was so excited and put my mom and sister-in-law on lookout.  Most of the party guests got wind of the surprise at this point because of the phone call but we ended up having to wait about 25 minutes for the truck because they did get a call.  But it was worth the wait!  The fire fighters even brought hats and stickers for everyone so we added them to our favor bags.  We are a huge fan of Parkwood Vol. Fire Dept and brought them dinner and cupcakes tonight as a thank you.

Coming outside to see our surprise!  A firetruck at the party!

Noah's either waving here or doing a 'Westside' sign.

It was hot and the kids were excited, surprised, overwhelmed, and did I mention hot.  I wanted a group shot of everyone and pretty much managed.  A few kids stayed inside the truck for the shot and getting 10-12 toddlers plus parents to look all at once... well that just doesn't happen.

After the truck, we quickly ran back inside for singing and cake.  It was pretty much the only thing I could say to one or two kids to get them to leave the truck and come in.

We are holding his hat on here, not mashing his face into the cake.

  

How things change in a year.  Eating cake neatly with a fork! 

A truly awesome day with great friends.  And we still have the actual birthday to look forward to on Tuesday! I have a feeling it's going to be a little more low key compared to party day.