A Disney Cars Birthday

 

The new battery charger for my camera finally came, so now I can write about Brady's birthday party.  I first got the idea of a Cars themed birthday about a month before Cars 2 hit the theaters.  I got a Fisher Price catalog in the mail and it was filled with Cars toys.  The theme of Cars 2 is the World Grand Prix and the toys said it all.  Since we knew at that point that we were headed to Germany, it was perfect that there were toys that would tie into that perfectly.  I took Brady to see Cars 2 in the theaters in July (although it wasn't his first movie), and he didn't really care too much about it.  By the time it came out on DVD, he was all about any type of cars and would watch the original Cars as many times as we'd let him.

 

All the presents lined up for Brady to open

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.  He wasn't too happy that there were presents to be opened and I wanted to take pictures of him.

 An awesome singing Cars card from Nana and Dubby

 And the first present is . . . roller skates!!! Just like the ones we had when we were kids that go over your shoes.  Thanks Nana and Dubby!

Next up a Cars helmet and bell (from Nana and Dubby).  There were also Cars elbow and knee pads.  It's important to practice safety while learning to roller skate ;)

 A fun learning giraffe bike from Nana and Dubby.

 Sitting with Dennis while he opens his gift.

 Whoa baby!!! Duplos!!!  Thanks Dennis!

 Brady excitedly showing Dennis all the cool blocks on the box.

 Opening Gertrude's gift.  He got a book! Thanks Gertrude!

 Now onto the presents from us wrapped in the super cool Cars paper.  These caught his eye immediately, but we wanted to save the best for last.

 A remote control Cars 2 race track!

 A Big Ben add-on for the track!  So cool since we'll be headed to London in April.

 The second the track was unwrapped, Dennis was so excited, he wanted to open it immediately.  He insisted on putting it together, but got a little more than he bargained for.  He doesn't have kids and didn't know how complex a simple race track could be ;)

 A stuffed Lightning McQueen from us

 You can see the Eiffel Tower add-on in the background while he opens another present.  We'll be headed to Paris in June.

 Opening either Cars or Cars 2 on Blu Ray.  He's seen both before and it's difficult now to keep him from watching them both every single day.

 A Cars potty seat!  We hope to attempt potty training while we're here.  We'll see how it goes.  He needs to start communicating a little better before we can start.

 The loot

I had asked Gertrude when we first moved here if she knew of a good place to get a birthday cake for Brady.   She told me that in Germany, they don't have what we typically call a birthday cake in the States and that to get one could cost as little as 50 Euros.  That was ridiculous and out of the question, so Gertrude offered to help me make a cake for Brady.  It turned out that she made the whole thing and I "helped."  Pictured above is the cake.  Gertrude told me that it is a cake that was typical for birthdays in the 1950s when she was a young girl.  It was a no-bake cake that consisted of a melted down crystallized coconut fat (not available in the States), eggs, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar.  Once that concoction was made, we poured some into a pan, then layered butter cookies, more concoction, butter cookies, and so on.  It had to chill and then we flipped it to get it out and decorated it with chocolate wafers.  It was really delicious and I was so grateful for the help.

 Brady had two candles.  The one with the number 2 and another one that Gertrude brought up that actually played the Happy Birthday song when it was lit.  It was pretty cool.

 Brady was too excited to play with his race track to eat any cake.

 Sitting with Dennis while the adults had some coffee and chatted.

 Lining up all his cars.  One of his favorite things to do.

 When everyone had gone home, Andy set up the giraffe bike for Brady to ride.  He has a little trouble figuring out the pedals.  He ends up pushing one forward and the other back so they stay in the same place.  We're working on it though.

 Birthday morning playing with Daddy.

 I was so excited to get the Big Ben and Eiffel Tower add-ons that I didn't realize that I need to purchase extra track pieces for them to fit.  I'll have to get those when we get back to the States.

 Brady loves his stuffed Lightning McQueen.  He carries him around by the spoiler and takes him to bed with him at naptime and bedtime.   He knows him by name, because when we ask him to go get Lightning, he always comes back with him.

He thinks Lightning is going to give him a ride if he sits on him ;)

Brady had a really great birthday and definitely is a spoiled little boy with all the people who love him.  I can't wait until next year when he can have his first real birthday parties for kids and his family.