The firetruck party!

So, over the weekend we had TWO parties at our house! Am I crazy to do this in one weekend.. YES! Was it lots of fun once the parties were actually underway??!! YES!!!
As most of you know, I love doing parties. If I had more time and lots more money I would do them all the time! But, I don't have either of those things, so, I get creative and enlist the help of others and it usually turns out ok!
Bryson's party this year I wanted to make extra special for him. I guess I still feel like the boys have gone through quite the adjustment this year with the addition of a baby brother. I often find myself at night laying down thinking "did I spend enough time with each of them tonight??? Real quality time?" And, unfortunately, I feel like the answer is often no. Life just gets so busy and I am always trying to split my time between them evenly, but with Noah only being seven months, it gets difficult. Anyway, back to the guilt feelings... I just wanted Bryson's birthday party to be special and lots of fun for him!
So, this year, per his wishes, we had a firetruck party! This all came about from Bryson becoming obsessed with the fire station he passes on the way to preschool every morning. For a while, he would actually be very upset if he missed the firetrucks on the way to preschool in the mornings. He is definitely "into" anything firetruck related.
Saturday was his party day. Not to my surprise, the weather was not the best. Actually, it was very disappointing! It was rainy, gloomy, and humid! However, you would never have known any of that by looking at Bryson's face Saturday! Bryson was very lucky to have several close friends and family members be able to attend his party. Everyone gathered in the afternoon at our house on the porch first for a "craft" activity. We used black construction paper and colored "burning" houses using chalk and/or colored pencils. Then each child was given their own "mini" fire extinguisher (like a water gun filled with water) to "put out the flames!" It turned out pretty cute. Then it was back inside for a few minutes of play time before lining up at the front door for the big surprise outside. Doug had arranged for a firetruck to come right to our front door. Opening the door and watching Bryson look outside and see a real firetruck at the house was priceless! He walked right up the firemen and said hello. They let all the kids get inside the firetruck to look around, then showed them all the equipment, and then were nice enough to let Bryson sit in the driver's seat! It was quite the site to watch his little face with his fireman hat on in the driver's seat of a firetruck! Then, before they left we took a few group photos sitting on the firetruck and a couple of photos with Bryson holding the fire hose! He said it was really heavy!!!
After that excitement, it was back inside for sweet treats, birthday cake, and one more game. The kids had chocolate birthday cake, vanilla cupcakes, red apple slices, BBQ chips (the fire theme you know!), cinnamon candy (again, the fire theme!!), red twizzlers, fire hydrant shaped PB&J sandwiches, carrot and celery cups, and homemade red and blue lollipops! So, can we say sugar high?! But it was fun!!! By the way, some of the cute tags and cupcake toppers seen in the photos of the food table are from one of my very favorite Etsy shops, Jack and Izzy.
The last game was "pin the ladder on the firetruck." That was really cute to watch! Doug did a fantastic job drawing me a fire engine on red posterboard at about 11:3o pm one night! Thank you honey!!
All in all, I think the kids had a great time. I know Bryson did.
Again, it is still hard for me to believe Bryson is actually four years old. I still have to swallow real hard when people ask the children's ages before I say, 8, 4 and 7 months. Time is just flying by way too fast! Someone please make it slow down!!!!
Happy Birthday Bryson!!!! We hope you had fun!!! And, thank you to my very sweet family that helped pull everything together!