Favorite Photo Friday

Tanner's 4th Birthday

August 2010

I realized last night that I haven't shared any details about Tanner's 4th birthday party.  Shame on me.  I am appalled with myself because this was, by far, one of the best birthday parties I've ever thrown together.  It was tough to beat the Thomas party last year, but this one was pretty awesome.

And I owe it all to the Cherokee County Fire Dept. of Station 24.

Shout out to Station 24!!

Yes, the party still would've been a birthday party -- we still would have had cake, presents, a pinata, and even a homemade pin the hat on the fire dog game -- but the party wouldn't have been one for the record books without those firefighters.

I wish I knew their names.

So we had a driveway full of 2 to 8 year olds, eagerly waiting on the pumper truck I had requested for the event.  Since Tanner was a baby, he's been surrounded by fire trucks, quite literally.  His room is decorated with trucks ... he's loaded up with fire stations and all sorts of rescue vehicles.  So when I came across the idea in a Parent magazine, I jumped on it.  All I had to do was call the fire department (not 911) and tell them I wanted a truck for a birthday party.  They ask how many children and ages and that's that.  The firefighters bring hats and "badges" for all the kids, so there are built-in goodies.  I had a few games planned for the party, but I didn't need them at all.  The firefighters showed up at 11 with 2 trucks, a pumper and a ladder truck.  We took over the entire culdesac.  Then the firefighters gave a little safety talk and let the kids sit in both trucks.  They put up the ladder on the truck so the kids could see how high it rises.  Then one of the firefighters climbed all the way up (CRAZY HIGH) and told us what he could see.  After the climb, they hooked up a hose to the pumper and let each of the kids take a turn spraying water.  It was truly the best!  Those guys stayed here for about 50 minutes, though it was 100 degrees outside.  And the kids were hanging in there too, though it was super hot outside.  Because they stayed for so long, I didn't have to worry about any games at all.  After the trucks left, we had some hot dogs, chips, and cake, and then took a few smacks at a very stubborn pinata and everyone headed home.

Excellent birthday party.

One for the record books.

And the best part -- it was super cheap!  OK, the best part was seeing Tanner's face when that truck came around the curve, but the cheap part was the second best!