A Fiery 2nd Birthday

Apparently grandparents run on a different type of fuel than normal people. They never run out of energy. Ever.

In the case of a certain little boy I know, endless energy made for a perfect week with his out-of-town admirers. I should devote a whole post to our fun, non-birthday-related adventures, but until then…

It’s firefighting time.

Because Beckett loves his f*&$@s. And, seeing as he turned 2 this week, we included as many of them into his week-o-celebration as possible.

First up, the coolest fire station visit ofalltime, offered so kindly by my friend Katie on behalf of her husband Ethan, a fireman at the airport here. (When I say “airport”, I mean the monstrosity that has its own zip code. The one that has 6 full fire stations attached to it. The one that could fit the entire island of Manhattan into it. That airport.)

I thought maybe we’d touch a fire truck and drive around the parking lot.

But, oh no. Firefighters don’t play around when it comes to visits from birthday royalty.

Instead, we rode in the fire truck on the taxiway next to airplanes. As in…we drove alongside airplanes (of the 747 variety) that were driving to the runway.

Pilots literally waved at us.

“Oh, hey fire vehicle. You most certainly have the right of way. Please. After you.”

We also got to hear the siren and shoot the water. Seriously awesome.

It was one of the coolest experiences ever (for everyone present – not just the 2 year old), and made me feel like an awesome mom for setting it all up!

Just kidding. I didn’t do anything except answer a text back with “Yea – he’d love to visit a station! Thanks for offering!” It was all Katie and Ethan, who just so happen to be our new heroes.

A few days later came the official birthday party, with the “fire truck” theme that started it all.

(The theme that led to the fire station visit and to this sorta over-the-top, really awesome grandparent birthday present – a riding fire truck with a working water hose.)

[time out.]

Before I tell you about the party, let me tell you:

I love my kid. A lot. I’d argue he’s the coolest, funniest, handsomest, most well-behaved child ever to walk the earth….most of the time. Ok, some of the time. But when he’s on, he’s ON.

But we can stop for a second and talk about something?

Birthday parties.

What’s going on there? Have you seen Pinterest birthday parties lately? They’re OUTRAGEOUS. I mean, truly.

So much money spent on such little humans with terrible memories.

As much as I love my son, I realize that he’d be comparably excited about a rock garden as he would a school of clowns or an Air Force One flyover, so we tried to keep his party low key/budget, because he’s two and doesn’t know any better. (Like, the age where he barely knows his name let alone recognizes the difference between a trip to the zoo and a million dollar birthday bash.)

So I present to you: how to have a fireman birthday party on a low budget.

Since we live in Texas and Beckett’s birthday is at the most hellaciously hot time of the summer, we chose a park in town with a sweet new splash pad. Water + August = life-saving.

Plus, the sprayground was enclosed, which is synonymous with “heaven on earth” when it involves 15 2-year-olds.

Having a fireman party includes a lot of puns. It’s not salsa, it’s “smokin’ salsa”. It’s not mustard, it’s “sandwich gear”. Plus – paper flames. They were so realistic, I’m a little offended the real firemen didn’t come.

The only minor mishap was, you know, misjudging what the heat would do to our food.

Like the cupcakes, for instance. They didn’t last very long.

Or the fire truck “wheels”. They didn’t even survive the car ride to the party. Who knew Oreo cream gave up so easily?!

But, hey, it’s August. And things melt. Humans included.

You know what doesn’t melt? The $6 sparkler I bought to go on top of Beckett’s cake. Yes, $6 is a ridiculous amount to pay, but you gotta splurge on something. And I chose…candles.

Regardless…the dang thing didn’t light.

Good thing the $10 fire extinguisher candles did. Yes. $10. $16 total on candles. Please judge me.

And that’s how I felt about that.

The kids though? They had a blast. What can go wrong 15 toddlers having free reign over the world’s best sprinkler system?

Special thanks to our attendees, our baker (my mom), and our photographer (my dad). And to blasted Pinterest. Despite your ridiculous nature, you helped me execute a successful party.

See you guys at B’s next birthday. The themes will probably continue to be centered around his speech impediments/offensive language at the time. Get excited.