Ryan's birthday party preps

As with Ian's party, we received lots of help and support from our dear family members.  From when he was about two and a half on through now, Ryan has loved vehicles, especially Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. It was obvious that we should have a cars party for him!

We wanted to have a few outdoor play-time options for kiddos when they arrived at the party. The day before the party, Daddy did a great job creating a network of "roads" with black duct tape on our garage floor. Ian and Ryan were excited to help build tunnels of Mega Blocks and to draw buildings, signs, and features with sidewalk chalk.

Together, we made an elaborate city, complete with many options for the cars.

Ian and Ryan were just as excited to play with it as they were to help design it. Unfortunately, by the end of their "test run" of the car city, much of the sidewalk chalk had rubbed off.

No need to fear ... Aunt Amy and Grammy to the rescue! Aunt Amy scoured the Internet for clip art images of various city buildings and features. Then, Grammy duct taped all of the papers to the floor. Much sturdier!

Grandpa and Grandma were willing helpers for one of the party games. They spent almost an hour, I think, cutting all of the necessary road signs out of card stock. What a labor of love!

Grammy helped to engineer the race track cake. It was actually one of the easier cakes we have attempted!

Ryan helped to add candy to another "sheet cake," if we needed extra.

Our finished masterpieces ...

The day of the party, we appreciated having all hands on deck as well. Ian designed a race car sign to hang up,

while Uncle Jason and Grandma made the outdoor tables look like roads. :)

Stay tuned for pictures of the fun we had at the party ...