Bennett's Trash Bash

Our little trash truck-lover turned three, and we had to throw him a trash bash birthday party to celebrate!

We had trash bags for gift bags, 

 Food served in (cleaned and new!) trash bins,

 And all kinds of trash decor.

 My mom came to town to help me clean, decorate, and cook for the party.  I couldn't have done it without her!

 I also had a few friends to help give the decorations just the right touch and painstakingly add all the sprinkles to the cakes and cupcakes.

 Most importantly, Bennett had an awesome and memorable day.

 I set up a trash truck filling station with lots of garbage cans and pretend trash.  Bennett loved playing here, as I suspected he might.

 Bennett isn't one to want to have tons of people over, so we kept the party small to our closest friends that have been over to play many times before.

 Bennett knew all of the kids well, and also knew all the parents by name too, which made the day less stressful for him.

 I've seen many kids (including my own) have a fairly miserable time at their own party, and I tried very hard this year to make sure Bennett was set up for success as well as I could.

 John took the kids out early in the morning and when Bennett came back he got to put on his new party t shirt and check out all the trash trucks everywhere.  He was thrilled.

 I set up a truck washing station with some squirt bottles and wash cloths.  The trash trucks in Palo Alto have never been cleaner.

I hid mini trash bags of cookies and Hot Wheels all over the yard and each kid got to find two and then dig into their treasures. Bennett absolutely loved Easter, so I knew he would love reliving that scavenger-hunt-feeling at his party.

 When Bennett got a little tired of the mayhem he went inside to relax in his room and play with his cars.

 But when he was ready for more excitement he went back out to jump in the bounce house.

 Bennett has been crying at every single birthday party he has attended for almost a year now screaming "It's my birthday!!" because he wanted to blow out the candles.

 Well this time, buddy, it really was your birthday.

 This kid loves chocolate.  I mean LOVES chocolate, so getting a chocolate cake was an easy decision.

 He has recently started to call himself "Chocolate" as a nickname, so you can imagine he enjoyed his chocolate cake.

 After nice long naps, the kids woke up and got a chance to bounce in the bounce house one last time.

 The sun was setting, all of the decorations were still up, and our little family was just basking in the glow of our little three year old.

Happy trash bash, Bennett!  We love you!