Tractor Birthday Party

Milo loves tractors, so it was only natural that we throw him a tractor-themed 2nd birthday party.

THE INVITE:

I designed the invitation in Pages (I design everything in Pages…) and added some a free clip art tractor and cones from online. My amazing printer got a little fritzy towards the end of the printing, so the invites aren’t perfect, but hey, what is?

THE LOCATION:

Fairlington Park is the perfect park. Shade, tables and barbecues, playgrounds and swings for babies to school aged kids, a huge sandbox, tons of play toys and ride-on toys, an adjoining soccer field, and a gate around the whole thing.

The pagoda is first-come, first-served, so we were lucky to arrive an hour before the party and have another party just cleaning up!

THE DETAILS:

One table was sort of the center of it all. Everyone helped themselves to snacks and water was self-served in cups (stacked on an orange cone).

Decorations involved lots of caution tape (which is so appropriate for a two-year-olds) and some balloons.

The (orange and brown) snacks were served in hard hats bought at Home Depot. I whipped up the “DIG IN” sign and Dave used his new birthday power tools and some leftover plywood to make the sign stands.

The cones were my favorite detail. There is so much construction happening on the DC area highways, I see that same “Orange Cones, No Phones” sign everywhere I go! So I thought it would be a fun twist to have a “Orange Cones, Ice Cream Zone!” instead! Again, the sign was designed in Pages, and the ice cream cone wrappers I designed in Photoshop by modifying this one. It took a few tries to get the dimensions just right, but I finally got it (then a good friend cut and glued them all for me:). For a final touch, I hand dipped each cone in melted semi-sweet chocolate.

Cookies and creme ice cream looks like dirt. Perfect for an orange traffic ice cream cone!

Milo liked his…

…yep, the cones were a hit…

…perfect for a nice spring party.

THE ACTIVITIES:

I thought it would be fun to set up a little tractor zone for some of the younger guests. I sectioned off the area with orange cones and caution tape, then brought all of Milo’s construction vehicles and borrowed a few from friends.

Honestly, the tractor play zone wasn’t as big of a hit as I expected, but it was cute, and Milo liked it, until he learned he could just take the tractors out of the area into the rest of the park. Then, that’s what he did!

The rest of the kiddos soaked up some time in the sand.

We saw lots of happy faces!

Chocolate cheeks and a shovel of sand, what more could you ask from a birthday party?

Those who didn’t dig climbed…

…and climbed.

THE CAKE:

I debated whether to make my own cake this year or buy one. Finally, I ordered a plain, non-decorated cake from Costco. and then added a construction theme to the top with crumbled graham crackers and some Mini-CAT tractors. The cake was delicious, inexpensive and stress-free. A great combination if you ask me!

Here the Birthday Boy makes second wish, one on each candle:)

THE GIFTS:

Gifts are still a new concept for this little boy. He loved everything from the tissue paper to the packaging.

He gave lots of hugs out to friends as he said thank-you, it was darling.

THE FAVORS:

I was excited to spread around the tractor love, so I filled a bucket with favors for friends to take as they said good-bye.

Each treat bag had a little toy tractor, some caramel-filled kisses (as construction cones) and a little pile of Reese’s Pieces, which were perfectly colored for the theme. I simply tied them in cellophane bags with…you guessed it…caution tape!