School Bus Birthday Party

Becky decided on a school bus birthday party theme for her school bus obsessed two year old, Ethan. SO MUCH FUN! Doesn’t your toddler point out every single school bus that drives by?

She started by hand drawing a sweet school bus and then designed the adorable invitations. I love her color choices and the fact that Ethan is front and center in the window of the school bus! Becky used the same school bus design on an oversized sign for her door as well as for labeling foods.

The birthday party meal was a “school lunch” theme of ham and cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese (in the form of balls from Trader Joes), veggies, juice boxes, a “lunchables” style cheese and meat tray, and “hot dogs” in the form of pigs in a blanket. Lots of clever ideas here!

Check out Becky’s school bus cake pops. You can see why they were a such a hit– seriously cute! Becky made them herself using this school bus cake pop tutorial.

When I first saw the photos from this party, I figured that someone in Becky’s family was a bus driver or knew someone who was a bus driver. How else would she have been able to get REAL school bus for the party?….
NOT EASY! Becky spent two months calling bus rental companies trying to find one that would send a school bus to her house for a reasonable price. She called about 50 of them!

Becky said, “After booking a bus only to have them cancel on me three weeks before the party, I made more calls and finally found the nicest company IN THE WORLD. O’Brien Bus Service. I can’t tell you how many people treated me like I was C-R-A-Z-Y for requesting a school bus to drive my two year old and his buddies around town. But O’Brien took my idea seriously…and helped me make it happen. Even when the forecast called for downright blizzard conditions the night before the party, Mr. O’Brien was in contact with me, hoping as hard as I was that the snow would hold off a few more hours.”

Luckily the next day the weather was not nearly as bad as expected and the kids handed the bus driver their bus tickets & climbed into the bus!

Becky said, “I was the last one on the bus and I won’t lie…when I climbed aboard (and of course handed my ticket to the driver) I looked up and saw our friends and family seated, row after row, kids with wide eyes and smiling faces…I had to hold back the tears. I know, it sounds dumb, but when things work out just as you planned, it can be quite emotional. But I held it together and took my seat with the birthday boy. Then we were off!!”

The children listened to multiple versions of “Wheels on the Bus” while singing and pointing out each item mentioned (wipers, horn, windows). Their fab bus driver, Matt, also let all of the kids try honking the bus horn and turning the wheel while the bus was parked safely in a parking lot.