If you have a little boy around the age of my son you probably know what Ka-Chow means. If you don’t it’s Lightning McQueen’s favorite saying as he races across the finish line. My son is obsessed with Disney Cars so it seemed only fitting to have a Cars birthday party!
Of course with the way our lives have been going lately, something had to go wrong… Nothing huge but still a little hiccup that caused a bit of stress the day before the party. Since we aren’t in our house we decided to have it at a local park. The parks in our town are first come first serve. So I figured we would get there early to set up and cross our fingers that we got a good spot. Friday afternoon I noticed on a community Facebook page that there was a festival at the park on the same day. Not just a small festival but a big, streets closed down parade and amusement park festival. After reading more about it I decided to switch parks. When I called the Bounce House rental place they informed me that I needed a permit for any parks in the area. Why they didn’t tell me that when I booked it? I don’t know… So by now it’s 4:00 on Friday and too late to get a permit in the town we had planned to have the party. So I call the two neighboring cities and find that the only way to get a park and permit is to spend $190. $100 would be refunded but still way more than the free I had planned on. BUT… The Love Nugget really wanted a bounce house and so I booked it, emailed everyone and mixed myself up a drink! Oh life lately… someday it won’t be crazy!
Anyway, on to the festivities!
Luckily the park we reserved was a very nice, clean, new park with lots of grass for the kids to run around on. Not so lucky was the lack of shade for such a hot day. 90 + ugh… what happened to spring!?!
The heat obviously didn’t slow this guy down. As soon as the Bounce house was set up he was in it for pretty much the remainder for the party. So fun!
Even though it was at the park I had to try to make it as Cars cute as possible 🙂
Trail mix or “Nut’s and Bolts” on each table which were set up like a raceway. White plastic table cloth, old black curtains and yellow tape down the center. I purchased the checkered flags from Hobby Lobby and printed out a bunch of Cars clip art then glued them on wooden skewers for the center pieces.
For wrecks and accidents there was a basket of neosporin, sunscreen, bandages, and tide pens. Just in case!
He wanted to display our Disneyland Lightning McQueen photo. His favorite!
Guests cooled down with Lightning Lemonade, Fillmore’s Organic Iced Tea, water or ice-cold beer. Sort of a necessity on a hot day with a bunch of dads right??
Plates, napkins and silverware were stored in the Pit Crew Tool Box beside the “Ka-Chow” and Lightning Fast straws.
Lunch was fairly simple since I don’t have much of a kitchen right now to prepare anything in.
For some reason I didn’t get pictures of the Mater Tater Salad (potato salad), Filmore’s Organic Fruit cups (fruit in ice cream cones) or Doc’s Dip Sticks (Veggie sticks with ranch in cups).
Of course there were treats 🙂
How cute are those cupcakes and cake? I ordered them from Whistle Stop Cafe in Lincoln and was so happy with the results. I found a picture online, gave it to the owner and voila! She worked her magic and they turned out perfect! I ordered the rings off and the kids loved them! Although they are currently all over our hotel room…
He was pretty excited about his cake too 🙂
But instead of eating his cake devoured a cupcake. Or two…
Then he couldn’t wait any longer to open his presents. After he opened them all he stood up and yelled, “Thank you for all the presents!” Love his little manners 🙂
Time for pinata!
Different than I remember from when I was a kid. Nowadays they each pull strings until the bottom opens up. A little safer but still fun!
Three year old’s picking up pinata loot is much calmer than a bunch of 7 year old’s. They very carefully selected each item they wanted and tosses aside what they didn’t. There was actually some left and I was happy to see it was mostly candy! They chose the toys over the sweets 🙂
They also enjoyed playing bean bag toss with Cars bean bags and tires,
and coloring cars pictures I printed offline with Cars crayons. Which melted a little bit from the sun and heat 🙁
It was such a fun party despite the hassle of organizing it while not living at home and switching locations at the last minute. I don’t think The Love Nugget noticed the before hand chaos and had a blast! Which is all that matters 🙂
I’ll leave you with the best shot we could get of the kids together. Ha! How in the world do you get a good one of one kid let alone 11!
QUESTIONS –
- If you have kids, what type of party did you throw for them at three?
- Do you remember having pinatas when you were a kid? Filled with toys or candy?
Party Decor –
Straw flags from Hostess with the Mostess
Food Labels and drink labels from Little Bug Designs on Etsy
Invite from modpoddesigns on Etsy
Centerpiece pictures from free clip art online
Hand Washing Station (unpictured) free from All Things G&D
Everything looks amazing!! A bounce house at a park is such a great idea. I’m so impressed you were able to do all this from a hotel! Super inspirational. 🙂
I’d say if you are able to review the bouncy castle place, I would put that they need to tell you about permits when ordering. That decision/knowledge shouldn’t be at the discretion of the customer!
Anyhoo- such a good and cute party! My kiddo’s 2nd birthday is in two weeks and we are doing a semi train theme (at least the cake and cookies will be train like) and we are doing a pinata as well, but I was needing some other activities, so thank you I will be using a few of yours (except no bouncy castle even though he would love it as the location is too far out for anyone to deliver that!)
Agreed! They definitely should have told me especially since they are based in the same town!
The bounce house was the hit of the party but they also enjoyed the bean bag toss and coloring table. If I knew it was going to be so hot or not shaded I would have planned a water activity. Next time!
What a fun theme! Everything is super cute – great job!
Thanks Ashley!
Great job with hosting the party! Everything looks so cute! Kids love jump houses! haha.
And the Love Nugget sure has manners! =)
I remember that my cousin had a birthday party at a park, in July. There was a jump house too but it was soo hot. It was fun though!
Everything looks great! My little boy will turn 2 in July and you have given me some great ideas! I also love that you included sunscreen for the kids since it was an outside party! Good thinking!
Thank you! Hope his party is great!
You always throw the most thoughout and creative parties. Everything turned out awesome. I never knew they changed up pinata’s myself. I guess it could be much safer that way, but just doesn’t seem as fun Haha!