Sound the alarm! We had a blazing good time at Cash's 3rd birthday party! All of the firemen and their families reported to the Bartels Firehouse and first had to suit up in the Locker Room. Here the firemen received their personalized hats, fire extinguishers, axes, walkie talkies, buckets, and fire safety material. After playing around and filling our bellies with fire hoses (penne pasta), 3-alarm ziti, ladder rungs (garlic bread), and flammable liquid (red punch), it was time for some games.
We had several emergencies where the little firemen were needed to save the day. First, we helped a puppy that was in danger on the balcony by catching him in our parachute. We then went around and around with the parachute and sang the "Wheels on the Firetruck." We also pretended the parachute was smoke so the little guys would learn to stay low and crawl under smoke. Daddy then demonstrated how to "Stop, Drop, and Roll" in the unthinkable case that their clothes were on fire, and of course, we all had to get on the floor and roll around too. Next, we played a fireman relay and had to fill our buckets up with packing popcorn and then poured them in a larger container to extinguish a pretend fire. After that we had one final emergency. The boys' playhouse outside was on fire! What better way to put the fire out then water balloons! I thought this was going to be Cash's favorite part of the party but instead he was not too thrilled, with any of it for that matter. This makes me so sad because all Cash has eagerly talked about for weeks was his fireman birthday party and now that it finally happened, he really didn't seem to enjoy it at all.
We have decided that Cash just does not like crowds. I did not even have the chance to give him his Fireman of the Year Award because I didn't want to draw any more unwanted attention to him. And if you thought he didn't like the games, just wait until you see what he did when we sang "Happy Birthday." He screamed and screamed! He just wanted to eat his fireman brownie in peace without all of the drama. (We had brownies not cake but Cash LOVES brownies, he could eat a whole pan if you let him.)
The only time Cash was really happy was when I asked him if he wanted to open presents and he immediately stood up, said "yeah," and marched for the gifts. I was shocked! After the party, I noticed I had been so distracted with Cash's moodiness that I forgot to pass out the Bartels Firehouse Matchbooks. I guess kids shouldn't play with matches anyway!
