Andrew's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Andrew's 3rd birthday party this morning at Colonial Park. We had such a blast including the birthday boy. He had talked about having a train party or a fire truck party. I mean, we did have a train party last year. Actually, truth be known, there were a few instances that he asked for a garbage truck party, but I had to explain to him that it wouldn't be the best ideas for a few reasons: (1) I didn't think I could rent a garbage truck; (2) I couldn't imagine the parents liking their kids riding in a garbage truck much less on the back of it like Andrew wanted; and (3) the smell wouldn't be very conducive to a birthday party! But we finally decided on a fire truck party.

So, after the soccer game, I went to the park to start setting up while Daddy took Nonna and Andrew to pick up the cake and cupcakes. Papa, Ngoai, and Uncle Footon came up bearing a crazy amount of food (eggrolls, egg noodles, chicken, and fried shrimp from Aunt Anh)!

Finally, it was 1030am and people started arriving. It was nice having the playground so the kids could play until the main event came. At 11am, our rented fire truck showed up. Andrew knew we were renting one, but the look on his face was priceless. He was totally stoked. All the kids seemed to me. Not everyone knew that we were having one at the party so I think some of them weren't quite sure what to make of it. It was cute seeing so many of the kids run up to the fire truck when it parked (which was an obstacle in itself!).

The company we rented the truck from were really great and sent Sparky the Fire Dog along with the truck at no extra charge. The kids loaded up and went for a few rides. Andrew was so excited. I think he went on every ride the truck made.

Later, after all the riding, it was time for birthday cake. Andrew waited patiently while we sang to him and tried to blow out the candles. It was so windy that it ended up taking a few tries. It was hilarious!!

Afterwards, the kids played some more on the playgrounds. Our birthday boy was having so much fun with all his family and friends. He was so giddy and excited. To no surprise, Andrew didn't want to go home.

We were so happy with how everything turned out. And I am most happy that Andrew had a great time. The only misstep of the party was that I didn't take any pictures (I let that up to our friend/photographer Andrew who was kind enough to join us) or any video of the fire truck or birthday cake. I totally forgot in all the hustle and bustle of the party. Boo for me!! My friend,

Here is the invitation that my cousin Thuy created (along with Andrew's fire truck t-shirt, which was covered by his sweatshirt since it was rather windy today and the cupcake toppers). A special thanks to her for all her creativity and hard work. Thanks to Ngoai and Papa for all the food. Thanks to Andrew for taking photos of the party. Thanks to everyone who helped with all the setting up and cleaning up. And thanks to all our family and friends who joined us for an awesome morning.

I am also including some pictures from this afternoon of Andrew opening some presents. Poor kid actually got tired from opening all those presents!!