Friday, July 15, 2016

Honk Honk! Vroom Vroom! Choo Choo! - It's Party Time!

Hello Everyone,

On June 26th, we celebrated little man's 2nd birthday! Eek! I honestly think I was more excited about his birthday than he was (but isn't that the case with first time parents?)

His party theme was Automobiles, as he is obsessed with cars, trucks, planes and trains - anything with wheels under it basically. So, I incorporated a few different themes into one. Thankfully, he's very basic when it comes to automobiles. He knows who Thomas the Train is and the characters from CARS are, but he isn't focused on the brand. *Bonus points for this single mama: generic is a whole lot cheaper than brands.*




The walkway up to the door and the front porch were decorated as a construction zone. Unfortunately, I didn't have any cones or time to make them, otherwise they would have been there. I also had a hard time finding my CAUTION tape, so I found some yellow streamers instead. Grrr... As guests walked in, they saw our photo booth area and our box of party favors. Our photo booth consisted of two props, a car and a pilot's license, which I created by hand only a few hours before. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to add that much color to them, but all that mattered was that little man knew whparat they were.


As the guests made their way out of the construction zone, they entered the living room (which was decorated as an airport). It was hard for me to find decorations that were just generic planes, so I had to create a few of my own. I also found some mini planes at Target in the party favor section that I was able to thumb tack to my walls. 


Next was the train station (or what I know it as - the dining room). All the food was party themed (or at least close to it), but we'll go over that in a few minutes.

Train tracks were set up and food platters were supposed to be placed in the openings, but they never left the kitchen. The train's are little man's and the track was borrowed. Behind the "train station" was the "Baggage Drop" (presents table). This was quickly filled up with the many gifts Mark was soon to receive.


After leaving the train station, guests made their way through our "Car Wash" and into the kitchen area, where it was decorated with cars and trucks. I had to quickly take pictures throughout the house of the decorations, because as soon as little man saw everything, he had to touch. You know it! But, that big gasp was all it took for my heart to melt! And we're not done yet.



Under the foil is his birthday cake, the cheese balls were "wrecking balls" - not the kind that Miley Cyrus swings in on - thankfully. We also had deviled eggs, dogs in a blanket, Oreos - which were pot holes, airplane, truck and train sugar cookies (handmade), quesadilla's with sour cream and salsa, soda, unsweetened tea, water, juice (for the kids) and a giant bowl of never ending fruit!


The backyard, I rented the biggest present for him, just for the party. A bounce house! Yay, mama for the win! He spent a majority of the party in the bounce house, as I knew he would. I didn't want to show him the bounce house until everyone arrived. It was difficult to keep him occupied while they were setting it up. Set up and break down took about 35 minutes each, but while they were setting up, I gave little man a bath (so he would hear the water splashing and not the air pump).

Throughout the 3 hour party, I constantly had to remind him that there was no running through the house, but I only wanted to stop him and keep him hydrated. After being outside for 30 minutes, it looked like I dropped him in the pool - he was soaking in sweat.

Three hours is definitely enough time for a child's party and definitely long enough for a toddler's party. In two hours, you can't really get much done with all the kids running around in different directions. This year, we let the kids play for a good solid hour, while the parents mingled inside - kids running in and out the entire hour. Then we ate, made the kids all sit together at the coffee table and eat together, they even posed for a few pictures together. Then we had cake and finished with all the presents before the sugar kicked in. After presents, they went to burn off all that sugar in the bounce house. 

The day before the party, my mom kept bringing up the fact that she was worried no one would show. Which in return made me worried. Thanks mom! Did everyone show? No, but usually not everyone does. We had an amazing turn out for a toddlers' party. Next year, I'm ignoring her.

After everyone left, Mark grabbed my hand and said "night night mama, please." He was clearly exhausted, but he was out in about 10 minutes. He usually takes me to bed when he's ready, even grabs my hand and tells me we're going to bed. But, it was like "plllleeeeeeeease mama, I want to go night night." *shake my head*

Thank you everyone who showed and made my son's birthday a magical one. The cherry on top of his cupcake was his great-grandmother (my ex's grandmother is only in her 60's and looks amazing) coming for his birthday! Even after she left, he kept saying "GiGi", which is what he calls her.

He definitely had a rockin' 2nd birthday! 

~Meredith

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