Get Your Kicks on Route 66

For Hunter's 2nd birthday, I kind of had to do a Cars theme.  The kid is mildly obsessed not only with all things motor vehicle, but the Disney movie as well.  

After going all out for his first birthday, I wanted to keep things low key this year.  Just immediate family and neighborhood friends, I said.  We will keep it small, I said.  

I should know better.  30 adults and 14 kids later, we had ourselves a guest list.  

To keep costs down, I relied heavily on Dusty from All Things G&D and her list of free printables.  They were a life saver.

For food, I kept it pretty simple with chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese (for the kids) and sandwich sliders and pasta salad for the adults.  

I also added in some Chex Mix as something to nosh on the go.

I snagged the sandwich sliders from our local grocery store, Giant.  It's the same place I got the 6ft hoagie last year, and man am I glad this is the route I went.  I thought about pizza, but the boxes take up so much room, and you never know if you have enough plain for everyone.  I didn't want to get another 6 ft hoagie because transporting it was a bitch, and so was cutting it into individual sizes.  With the sandwich platter I had a nice mix of chicken salad, egg salad, ham & cheese, roast beef & cheese and turkey & cheese on potato rolls.  They were a huge hit.

Instead of having doing one big cake and having to cut it, I opted for more grab-and-go options of cupcakes (red velvet and strawberry), Twizzlers, and of course Luigis Casa Della tires made of  chocolate donuts.

The pièce de résistance was in the back yard.  With 14 kids, and only 600 sq ft in our main living area, I wanted to have activites to keep them occupied.  I painted a couple boxes to match the characters Lighting McQueen, Chick Hicks and Strip "the King" Weathers.  I was all about just letting them run around the back yard willy nilly, but JEGs said "Oh no.  They need a race track".

So a race track he did build.  

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Falconhead 500

I had to take the picture from Hunter's room so you could see the whole thing

He grabbed two cans of spray paint from Lowe's (the kind specifically made for lawns) and outlined the track in white.  Since our backyard is still a hot mess of monkey balls and super deep holes, he used orange spray paint as a way of letting the kids know they shouldn't be running in certain areas.  I had ordered 100 ft of checkered flag banner that we cut in half and strung across the yard from poles mounted to the fence.  Balloons and safety cones from Lowe's marked the Start/Finish line.

This was such a huge hit for the kids!  Not only did they use the boxes, but they took any wheeled vehicle Hunter had for a spin around the track,  ran three-legged races and just chased each other around!  It was a great way to keep them occupied AND burned off energy!

Abigail and Wyatt dominate the three-legged race

My nieces Skylar and Bridget take Chick and the King for a spin

Hunter runs around with Lighting

..but ultimately balloons win out.

Gabe of Shannigans fame even made an appearance 

We sang Happy Birthday and finally let the kids pounce on the chocolate donuts they had been eyeing up all afternoon

In the 'Winners Circle' I had favor bags for the kids.  I glued VIP pit passes to the front of the bags, and inside was a Matchbox car, M&Ms, and Cars stickers.

I am really happy with out everything turned out.  Many thanks to all our friends and family who made it out!

Always & Forever,
  ME