A Busload O' Birthday Fun

While the twos definitely lived up to their reputation at times, life with Park over the past year has been some of the most fun Carrie and I have had as parents. Over the course of 12 months we've watched him become … well, Park. We've laughed together, we've carried on conversations together and we've gotten a chance to explore the world together. Along the way, he's developed his own personal tastes and interests, so when it came time to plan his third birthday party we just tried to roll everything he's grown to love into one afternoon of pure joy.

Pretty early on in the planning process, we decided it might be fun to keep all of the day's events a surprise, both for him and the members of our family who were planning on attending. So, in lieu of another slightly over-the-top party invitation, we opted for something a little more subtle and non descriptive.

While the tickets did raise a few questions among those who received them, I don't think anyone was tipped off that they were actually holding a little clue to the party's first, and biggest, surprise. You see, like most boys his age, Park is fascinated by pretty much anything on wheels, that's especially true for buses—school buses to be precise. So we went out and got him one for the day.

As you might be able to tell, this wasn't your average, run-of-the-mill, state-issued school bus, no, Park needed something with a little more style. Luckily, Carrie has become friends with Ivan Moore who happens to own the Unified Party Bus and he hooked us up. To see more of the bus, click here.

After the initial excitement over the bus settled down, everyone grabbed individual, specially prepared lunch sacks filled with snacks and hopped on board. And like that, we were off to parts unknown. Along the way, Park was treated to a personalized soundtrack containing all of his favorite songs ranging from "Party Rock Anthem" and the "Cha Cha Slide" to "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and Starship's "We Built This City" (damn you Kermit).

After about 20 minutes, the party bus pulled up to its first stop, Cox Farms in south Wichita, where they had a hay bale maze, a petting zoo (something Park has really, really gotten into … especially if it has a few baby goats), a cow-milking game and a special "cow train"—which, to our surprise, many of the adults seemed to enjoy as well.

From there, we headed back across town to our house, but not before a stop at the local fire station to get an up-close look at the trucks (although apparently the big one was off on a "food run") and meet a real-life fireman. Park soaked it all up, examining everything from the truck's tires to its shiny chrome, but when the fireman offered to let him sit in the driver's seat and wear his hat he became the shy little boy we only see on rare occasions. So with the clock winding down on our time with the party bus, we loaded back up and headed home to open presents before dinner.

As for dinner, that was really the only hiccup we faced in our party planning process. We had intended to take everyone out to a small airport in Benton, Kansas where you get to eat on the tarmac and watch the planes take off and land (obviously people stuffing their pie holes with chicken wings is not high on TSA's "threat list") however we found out the day before that it was "Benton Days" and we were unlikely to actually get a place to sit down. So we moved on to  "plan B," a pizza place with outdoor seating and an area where the three younger cousins could run and play, which they did for nearly two hours.

Finally as the party was winding down it was time for Park's final surprise—his cake. For months Carrie and I had been asking him what he'd like to have on his cake and every time we got the same answer "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Yeah, our kid wanted Santa on his birthday cake.

Not that we would ever try to talk him out of it (well at least I wouldn't) but now and then we'd suggest alternatives like Scooby Doo, a rocket ship or maybe even a dinosaur and all we ever got was "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Carrie even tried to get creative and asked Park if he wanted anything else with Santa on his cake and, thinking she had a breakthrough, Park replied yes … he wanted a reindeer too.

So here you go, Park's third birthday cake created by Lindsey Lou Cakes.

(If you can't read it, it says "Ho Ho Hope You Have a Happy Birthday Park" and by the way, it was delicious).

We'd like to thank everyone who came to the party, especially those who traveled in from out of town, because while the bus, the farm, the fire station and the cake put a smile on Park's face, nothing could match his excitement over having all of his favorite people in one place.