Ollie’s 2nd birthday celebration – a collaborative Bear x Bus theme party

Ollie’s 2nd birthday party was epic.

It was the only party out of the 8 parties I’ve done, which had the most DIY projects, including having to fix the birthday cake thrice!

Yet it was also the only party which made me feel utterly miserable even before it started. Things I least anticipated to fail, failed so badly that it was tough concealing my sporadic sighs and disappointments whenever something went wrong.

What was interesting, however, was the heartfelt and positive feedback received from our guests at the end of the party. Some even WhatsApp us the day after to thank us for a very enjoyable party. Most commented it was one helluva AWESOME party filled with lots of love and effort, and could barely tell that anything was amiss.

Ollie’s actual birthday was also on party day. Wanting to create a fun and magical start to our newly minted 2-year old’s special day, I woke the boys up bright and early, and told them to get ready because we were going to have breakfast surprise with some very special guests!

“Wow, mommy, are we at Sentosa? My favourite place?” Liam quizzed happily as we reached the gates of Universal Studios Singapore. Little did he realize that papa and mummy were excited about breakfast with the Sesame Street Characters too!

From a breakfast spread of local and western variety, to getting up close & and personal with every Sesame Street character who would come by to the table to spend a few moments with the kids, Ollie was one very happy birthday boy! Liam absolutely enjoyed the attention and cuddles from the characters too.

And then it was time to leave and start running party errands! I thought that planning for an evening/dinner party would give me a few good hours to get everything sorted and ready but between 12pm – 3pm, it felt like time was passing by doubly fast! The husband & I barely had time to catch a breather, let alone get started on party set-up.

A BUS x BEAR PARTY THEME

Unlike his 1st birthday party, where I basically dreamed up a theme of my heartfelt wish for him to always ‘Dream Big‘, coming up with a theme for Ollie for his 2nd birthday proved to be challenging because he was into whatever his older brother was into. Aside from trying not to repeat another “Peppa Pig” or “Thomas the Train” theme, it was important to me that Ollie’s 2nd birthday theme was one that would bring out his excitement and joy.

And then inspiration struck. We had a LINE FRIEND x Mr Maria collaboration BROWN lamp in Ollie’s room which he would always say good night to and plant kisses on (Doesn’t Ollie’s face resembled Brown’s face a little too?). Plus, I’ve always been a huge closet fan of Brown!

I also noticed that even though Liam was into trains, Ollie would always choose to play with buses over trains. Having created a collaborative theme for Liam’s 4th Birthday earlier this year, I was rather confident of creating another mash-up theme. I loved the uniqueness of creating a custom theme, and spontaneously decided that it was going to be a Bus x Bear birthday theme! 

With limited inspiration on the Internet when it came to collaborative themes, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I roped in my ever-enthusiastic helper to make some cardboard buses as party decorations, and jokingly suggested that we should get some colourful art paper and create our very own bus paper bunting too!

My helper actually took my joke seriously and a day later, showed me 60 paper cars and buses that she had cut up to string into a paper bunting, along with bigger paper cut-outs of buses.

What a gorgeous outcome our handiwork turned out to be. The party room ended up looking really colourful and cheery with our colourful paper buntings and cut-outs.

{Special mention and thanks goes out to Diana from Mum Craft for setting aside an afternoon to experiment with me when I asked her for ideas to make a bus}

THE PARTY VENUE

The husband and I decided to host our guests close to home so that we didn’t have to worry about transport arrangements to and fro party venue. We managed to get hold of both the dining room and clubhouse thanks to the couz, which was perfect for hosting our crowd of 40.

Hosting Ollie’s 2nd birthday party within a stone’s throw away from home also meant that the husband & I could ran errands and set-up while both boys napped at home (with mum). We didn’t have to worry about forgetting anything for the party, although I ended up forgetting quite a few things such as dessert table and party food labels, and with the use of our trolley, transporting Ollie’s presents and homecooked food was done with ease.

The only downside of having a “home venue” was having limited manpower and resources. Unlike external event spaces where there’s ready staff to help, we were pretty much on our own. That said, we were blessed with help extended by party guests who arrived early even when I insisted on being able to manage everything. I felt very loved, with all lines of formalities blurred between us and the guests (perks of only inviting closed friends and family) that it felt like a family gathering. A big happy family gathering!

THE FOOD

After attending one of our friend’s party where she hired a Prata-on-the-spot live station, the husband & I were absolutely sold that we wanted one for our next party too. What a good decision it turned out to be. Our guests were given more than 20 varieties to choose from ranging from the usual kosong/plain and egg pratas to pair with different types of curries, to other more fancy creations such as chocolate banana, cheese, tissue, paper prata etc. For those who couldn’t take spice in their diet, we prepared homemade food such as deep fried potato cutlets, a pot of the helper’s signature spicy soup, and a tray of Pasta Bolognese. I couldn’t resist adding on more food to the table with Ollie’s favourite mushroom/chicken curry puffs from Old Chang Kee and catered a mini buffet from Curry Pot as well.

THE DESSERT / CAKE TABLE 

Having thrown so many parties for the boys and setting up a dessert/cake table at every party, I was hesitant about doing one for Ollie’s 2nd birthday party. Personally, I do feel dessert tables are getting wee bit over-hyped these days especially with the amount of wastage left at the end of the party. Aware that we had lots of food served out to our guests, I didn’t want most of the items displayed on my dessert table to go to waste.

Eventually, I decided on a simple dessert table to complement the cake. I was mindful to limit the edibles (non-packaged ones) to a few popular favourites that would be a hit with our party guests, and balanced it up with individually packed chocolates, cookies and popcorns which could be brought home and consumed on another day. It worked out! I didn’t end up having to bring back boxes of desserts and eating them for the next 2 days.

Here’s when my first epic disaster happened. While opening the cake box to unveil the cake and prepare for display on the dessert table, I screamed to find that the main highlight of my chiffon cake – Line Friend’s Brown – had toppled and was sitting upside down at the bottom of the cake. My baker had given careful instructions to drive as slow as possible during cake collection and I was all ready to blame it on the husband even though I knew that he already did his best to avoid road humps (I was holding on to the cake behind) or abrupt braking while making our journey back. I held my tongue back, and saw the husband doing his best to “piece” the bear gingerly together, leaning it against the specially customized wooden cake topper which I wasn’t intending on using initially when I realized that the bear took up quite a big space on the top tier of the cake…before asking the photographer to quickly snap photos of the cake.

And then there was the task of shifting the cake from the dining room to the party room! It took 3 adults – the husband, his friend and myself to move the very fragile cake cautiously, taking our steps in unison while having all eyes on the cake so as not to damage the cake further.

With lots of coordination and a team effort, we managed to transfer the birthday cake over successfully. And that’s when our party photographer said “Quick, let’s take a few more photos together with the cake in tact before anything else happens!”

Alas, the Bear on the cake couldn’t bare for long (pun intended). Cracks were starting to appear, and friends suggested letting mr. Brown (bear) “rest” for a bit before the all important cake cutting and photo session later on. I was reluctant to display a bare looking cake, but thankfully everyone was either  in the dining room busy digging into their pratas and curries, or occupied with party activities in the outdoors to notice.

{Backstage photo captured by party guest, friend and blogger @doting_dad from Life’s Tiny Miracles}

I was starting to feel disheartened staring at the cake without its cute Bear topper. Just then, my backdrop which was stuck against the porous wall was threatening to drop for the 3rd time – epic disaster #2. We managed to “save” it from falling off completely nonetheless thanks to lots of reinforcement gestures from me and a few friends.

And just when I thought I could take a breather from the disasters that were starting to take place one after another, Liam got hold of my gorgeous customized wooden cake topper and accidentally snapped it. OH MY GOODNESS! Why was this happening???

It was also at this moment that Olllie came towards me, requesting to be carried only to be visibly affected by the Bear topper that was missing from his birthday cake.

{Birthday boy keeps looking at the bear on the plate}

I cooked up a story that the bear had to take a nap first before sitting on top of the cake again, assuming that Ollie would understand…

{thank you @doting_dad for this photo!}

PARTY ACTIVITIES 

Kids should have the most fun at kids parties, which is why party activities are always an important consideration for me whenever I host a party at a venue that does not have a kids playground. Thankfully for our venue this time around, there was a tree-house playground just outside the clubhouse which was great for guests who arrived early and could still catch the early evening light. Other fringe activities such face painting and balloon sculpting were available as well.

For the main party activity, I engaged Muse Arts for the 2nd time, following the wonderful feedback received from guests at Liam’s 4th Birthday Party earlier this year.

We had a minor set-back when the condo’s security informed us that we couldn’t play any of the activities indoors because it might disturb the other residents who wanted to use the common lounge. Muse Arts was quick to adapt accordingly. 15 minutes was all it took for them to set-up in the outdoors before gathering all the kids to kick off the play session. We started by singing songs, with a special song dedication to the birthday boy as we sang ‘Wheels On The Bus’!

Next, it was picture hunt time! In line with the bus theme, the kids were briefed to find coloured versions of buses and traffic signs as shown on the orange board.

Not bad, the kids managed to find the coloured version of all that was displayed on the orange board!

Next, it was time for the next party activity – the limbo rock and more games!

Meanwhile, back indoors, we started to gather everyone for cake cutting,

Muse Arts led the cake cutting with the ukelele accompaniment as they sang 3 versions of the Happy Birthday Song: in English, Mandarin and Korean! (play video below to hear). Hip hip hooray, we went! One for the kids, one for the parents! Loved the energy from our guests!

Thank you @lifestinymiracles for sending this over, and of course for the lovely gift and help especially during cake cutting. This video shows a good coverage of the party guests too! Thank you @doting_dad for your super sweet gesture and for keeping a lookout on the collapsing bear on the cake and the backdrop, but yet still capturing amazing party moments! So blessed to have such wonderful friends. Thank you for the kindness and friendship! #olliejamesistwo #olliebusandbearparty #ollieprataparty #chungkins2016

A video posted by Natasha Kim B (@so.nattyb) on Sep 17, 2016 at 8:44am PDT

Muse Arts didn’t just stop their entertainment and party fun there. After everyone had their fill of the delicious chiffon cake (I joked with my guests that for all the stress the cake gave me, at least it tasted yummy!), the kids were in for some smashing Pinata fun! This time, yours truly remembered to buy candies for the Pinata. And if you’re wondering why it’s a Fish pinata and not a Bear or Bus pinata, well, the shop had neither. So a Fish pinata it was, since Ollie likes fishes too!

With the kids still high from smashing and collecting of candy from the Pinata, Muse Arts went on to play ‘Parachute’! The kids were told to go under the parachute before hopping onto the parachute to be spun round and round as they sung “The Wheels On The Bus go round and round…round and round. Suddenly at the end, ‘POP!’ went the confetti cannon! Muse Arts sure made Ollie feel extra special, and ended the party activities with on a high with a big BANG. What a brilliant way to conclude the end of party activities. Thank you Muse Arts for making Ollie’s party such a kick-ass one!

With the party entertainers taking their leave, it was back to playing cardboard buses among the kids! Seeing all the smiles and fun they had, it made those hours of painting ’em cardboard buses absolutely worthwhile!

And while the kids busied themselves, the moms busied themselves with wefies…

PARTY FAVORS

Instead of packing my own bag of party favors as I’ve been doing for the last 7 parties, I was so glad to finally outsource this, this time around to baker Just Julia. I didn’t want to stress over what of “goodies” were welcomed/unwelcomed by parents nor did I want to stress over finding different sorts of toys for the different age groups. And so when I came across these bunch of Viennese Whirls which were prettily packed, I knew that it would make the perfect party favor! These perfectly sized buttery goodness, melt-in-your-mouth cookies were soooooo yummy, and soooo perfect for both kids and adults! Some of the guests & I couldn’t stop talking about it even the day after because it was just so addictive! Best eaten chilled, with a hot cuppa coffee.

When we finally got home at 11pm that day, all exhausted, hungry yet happy that we managed to pull off yet another fun party for our friends despite the few hiccups, I told the husband that I would be insane to put myself through another 2 rounds next year again.. “You know you’ll still go through with it wholeheartedly and voluntarily right?” was his response.

Finally, a big thank you to all of our party guests for spending your evening with us and also for showering Ollie bear with so much love through your hugs, kisses, presents and ang pows! Ollie’s face lighted up when he unwrapped his very first micro mini skate scooter completed with a bell no less (no more needing to ask korkor for permission!), and was on cloud nine unwrapping the rest of his presents.

To my little Ollie, just like that, you’re two! Where did the year go?

You’re such a wild child and a cute one at that! You never fail to light up smiles on people’s faces thanks to your contagious low, hearty laughs and infectious sunshine smile. You continue to be extremely affectionate towards your big brother, although you are also learning very quickly how to get our attention with your planned whines and tantrums…yes, we do see how you quickly peek at us from the side of your eyes just to make sure we’re still looking at you.

For your age, your determination to climb on anything just to get to what you want actually worries us a lot, enough to give us heart palpitations whenever we turn around only to find that you standing atop some bar chair next to the cupboard so that you can get access to your snacks. Yet it’s also shows us the ‘gung ho’ side of you, to just do first and not be trapped by the “what ifs”. I can’t wait to see the sort of mischief you’ll get to in the year ahead of us.

The recent drama with your finger being caught by our heavy wooden door a month back scared the shit out of me and your papa. What were you thinking? Creeping silently behind aunty M as she made her way to the kitchen to get you another bottle of milk and lurking within the shadows! Your korkor had no idea your fingers were placed on the hinge of the door and when he shut it close in excitement, thinking that aunty M was back to play “catch”.  The excruciating scream I heard you make over the phone killed me over and over. Not being able to do anything about it as we’re on the way home after sending your porpor home depressed me. And when your papa was driving as quickly as he could to send us to the A&E, I prayed fervently that there wouldn’t be a serious fracture. Seeing you cry so badly pained me. I felt like a really horrible mum when the doc asked me to leave during the removal of your bruised nail to clean your wound. I was clearly in the way of things. How I wished I could have hugged you tightly all the way instead of crying helplessly outside waiting for your papa to carry you out.

In spite of all that, you remained a champ. At the hospital, you kept asking for korkor to check if he was okay (probably after hearing how we scolded him so badly) and the next morning, with your bandaged arm and all, you went over to give him a big hug. That, my little Ollie, is what never cease to amaze me. Your love for your brother despite the usual sibling conflicts both of you have.

We love you so much Oliver. More than you’ll ever know. There’s always something about you that makes us sit up and notice a little more. Just the other day, we heard you sing a few songs, all in tune as you build your wooden tracks. It stopped us in our tracks too, we went “wow! this boy can’t speak properly yet but he can sing!” It’s been an amazing 2 years with you and I can’t wait to spend the years ahead with you until the love of your life becomes your wife & takes over…then again, I will still stick around…

I’m so proud to be your mommy, and I love everything about you (okay, maybe not that annoying habit of always wanting the dummy…). Happiest 2nd Birthday to you Ollie.

 

Inspired to plan a collaborative theme party or a bus/bear theme? Here’s where I sourced all my party goods from:

Line Friend’s Brown Bear Balloon: Carouseller @kfactorysg

Party Latex Balloons: Carouseller @partyyard

Face Painter: Carouseller @dellachen

Customized Wooden Cake Topper: Carouseller @kcottagestudio

Backdrop: Botak Sign

Party Entertainment (highly recommended): Muse Arts

Super cute and delicious chiffon birthday cake: Susanne from Loving Creations For You

Viennese Whirls Party Favors (loved these so much, I just ordered a medium bag for myself recently): Just Julia

Party Photographer: Jack Zhang from Bokelicious Photography

Happy Party Planning!