Last week our son Grady turned FOUR and we celebrated with an amazing Firetruck themed birthday party! The Fantastic Fire Department arrived with lights flashing and sirens wailing to the delight of all the kiddos (and adults too!) I’ll never forget the look on Grady’s face when he got to climb into the cab and sit in the driver’s seat … he was completely awe struck. Then it was on to silly water games with his friends and more “fiery” fun! His absolute favorite part of the day was riding around the neighborhood in the firetruck, especially when it went “super fast!” We were beyond thrilled with the Fantastic Fire Department team. They did such a great job tailoring the activities to our group which had kids in a wide range of ages. And most of all, they made everything really special for Grady who can be kind of a reserved kid at times. We weren’t sure if he was going to want to be at the center of all the activities, but our team leader Frank did an amazing job of featuring him without pushing him too far out of his comfort zone. He had A BLAST and loved every minute of it!

There are quite a few people we need to thank who helped us make Grady’s birthday party a success. First, a huge shout out to our wonderful friends Brooke & Doug who were kind enough to document the day for us so we could enjoy the time with our kiddo. It was such a relief not to have to worry about taking photos and you guys captured so many perfect moments. These photos mean so much to us! Next, the Yen-Li Chen Ballet School, which happens to be located in our neighborhood, allowed us to use their parking lot for the party which meant that all the kids could run around and have fun with no fear of traffic. Thank you to our wonderful moms, Lanie & Nancy, for all of their help and for keeping the birthday boy happy while we were busy getting things set up. And, last but not least, to all of our friends and family who came to play with us, THANK YOU! It was such a joyful day and all of your happy faces made it even better.

We loved celebrating our silly, smart and sweet little man. Kiddo – you are our world and we love you to the moon and back! The last four years have been the best of our lives because of you. You bring us more joy than we ever could have imagined. We’re so excited to walk (and often run) beside you as you grown and learn new things this coming year. Keep being YOU buddy!