A "Blazing" Good Time

We had the boys's 4th birthday party the weekend before their birthday this year and had a "blazing" good time.

We invited some friends to join us at Fire Station #3 to do a tour of the fire station and then for a pizza lunch. 

The party started at 10:30 AM so we arrived about 5 or 10 minutes early and were surprised that no one appeared to be there. We rang the bell and knocked at the fire station door - no answer. We opened the door, which was unlocked, and went in. Didn't see a soul. We could hear calls coming in over the intercom but couldn't really make out what they were saying and were confused as to what was going on. I had a confirmed tour scheduled. We realized that there must have been a call that came in and the firemen had to leave to, you know, do their job (or whatever), but I think I was expecting a note on the door! Ha! Maybe something like, "Had to go put out a fire. Be back soon!" :) I mean, I know they have lots of time to write notes to moms of 4 year old birthday boys when there is an emergency going on. Kidding! Needless to say, it had me a little stressed out. I'd heard about fire station birthday parties from friends of mine, but I had never attended one and wasn't prepared for these situations. More guest started arriving and we were just standing around, dumbfounded (and taking pics of all the cute kids and chatting it up with the parents). After about 20 minutes, with no clue of when or if they'd be back, we started to call the pizza place to let them know to put the pizzas in the oven because we were coming early! Just as I was on the phone, the fire truck came cruising back up to the station. Perfect timing! I was able to tell the pizza place to hold off on cooking our pizzas and we go to do our tour.

This is us killing time and waiting for the firemen to come back...

Ready to party at GCFD Station #3

Party boys with Dada and Mama

Two handsome fellas

Caroline with a fire truck

Ava Lane loves her Auntie Katie!!!!

My cutie boy William

The truck pulled back in to the fire station - YAY!!!!
The party is saved.

The fire men and EMS woman were so engaging and sweet with the kids. They showed them all the gear that they wear and one of the firemen put it all on, piece by piece, describing each article and it's use, despite VERY hot temperatures. They answered questions, talked about fire safety, posed for pictures and let all the kids sit in the fire truck. They even slid down the pole for the kids' amusement. Before we left, they passed out fire hats, coloring books, stickers and pencils. It was great!

Fireman Justin with his gear

Stokes feeling how heavy the coat is

Kids were enthralled

Answering questions...

In the fireman zone

Cool!

Ryan liked it, too!

Fireman Justin with the birthday boys!

The Atwoods

The Caudills

My pretty friends and their girls, taking a little break

Loving the fire truck!
Stokes and Ben

Cutie boys!

So much fun!

He thinks he IS a fireman. Or as he likes to say,
"fighter fighter" instead of fire fighter. LOL

Jackson and Amanda

C in the truck

Bo and Bennett playing on the pole

Hanging around the fire station

Hey, RyRy!!!!

Peerys in the truck

All (or most!) of the cute birthday party kiddos &
our awesome firemen + EMS!

Video of the firemen sliding down the pole:

We then walked over to Marco's Pizza for lunch. Our pizza came out of the oven within minutes, all the snacks I put out beforehand were big hits and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had "fire" (icing) cupcakes for dessert and the best part is that there was no clean up! We just threw all of our plates and cups away, packed up the stuff that I had brought, put it all in the car and we were done. How easy is that?!?!

The birthday banner!
You can see later what happened...I must have
brought the wrong kind of tape.

Candy bar and "Adopt a Puppy"

Flames - red, orange and yellow pepper strips in ranch dressing

Fruit and Flames (and Ryan's honey bear cup ha!)

"Fire" cupcakes

Time to EAT!

Singing "Happy Birthday" and bringing cupcakes

Make a wish...

Helping Ryan blow out his candle

dig in!
p.s. My poor birthday banner in the background!
I fixed it once or twice and then just let it go. :(

Special egg-free cupcake from home that was iced
to look like all the others!

Yummy!

Open up!

Ava Lane and Caroline playing with their puppies

Attacking the candy bar

Peery birthday fun

Ryan and Auntie Heather
Shout-out to Heather for taking pics at Marco's for me :)

After the party, we needed to kill some time so we took the boys over to MaSha's house so that they could open their presents from her and then went to her pool. It was just perfect to cool down after a fun morning. The party and the swimming wore the kids out and everyone took a nice nap that afternoon.

Birthday presents from MaSha!

Stokes with his new soccer cleats

Ryan with Curious George and William with a new car

Playing with the new cars at the pool

Dada and Stokes

Ryan snoozing at the pool on a comfy float

That evening, the boys wore their fire truck pajamas, wore their new fire hats and had a blast. Stokes and William take turns "driving" Ryan's stander around the downstairs and tell us it's their fire truck. They make siren noises and it's hilarious!

Going to put out the fire!

Cuties had a great birthday party and a fun day!