Jonah's TWO the Rescue birthday party!

I can’t believe he’s TWO! Our goofy little guy is already two years old, which feels unreal – time is such a thief. Y’all know I’m a big theme party gal – so of COURSE I’ve had a running list of contenders for good 2nd birthday themes when tossing around all sorts of 2 year old birthday ideas for Jonah man. 😉 But in the end, it was a no brainer: he was going to be TWO the Rescue! Of course Jonah’s lovelovelove for big trucks and vehicles runs deep as if does for so many toddler men (the bigger and louder the better, obviously). But when I’m considering party themes, I personally like to figure out a little somethin’-somethin’ extra that keeps things genuinely fun for all and kicks it up a notch above just picking up themed party supplies and calling it a fiesta, you know? (Not that there’s anything against keeping it simple – I’m just extra in the party planning department). To note, this does NOT mean it needs to be outrageously expensive or have its own line item on the annual family budget – to me, it just means thinking of little special touches or activities that make it more meaningful or memorable for all. 🙂

For all of my kids’ parties, we’ve kept it simple with cupcakes or a cake from a local grocery store that does them *so well* …I’m not a buttercream gal, so their whipped cream frosting is to die for – and I learned the hard way last year that simple white frosting is better than blue. 😉 But my personal favorite touch were these cute cupcake toppers! I ordered them from Etsy and they come as a digital download to print as many as you need; I just printed on cardstock and cut them out myself. A total hit!

A good balloon arch or strip is surprisingly easy to put together if you use a strip like this; I recommend color coordinating for your party theme. For our TWO the Rescue birthday party theme, I went with red, black, yellow and gold. The “TWO THE RESCUE” black balloons were a whole thing, let me tell you…I got them blown up at Michael’s the day before, and THE LITERAL SECOND I stepped outside with my filled bag, I heard three loud pops in succession…womp.

Sure enough, air expands in heat (good ol’ science), and my three E’s Exploded. HA. Ask me how much time I spent taping the balloons with black electrical tape in the hopes of getting enough air from my lungs in there for party time…

As seen on the OG, temporary tattoos were a smash hit. 😉 They’re something I’d recommend for any little’s shindig as a fun activity for little guests! Whether it’s for 2 year old birthday ideas or beyond, pick up a pack of on-theme tats for a fun time (that also easily transfers to the grown ups…we ALL had firetruck sleeves by the day’s end!).

Another smash hit: these fire extinguisher squirt guns! They’re surprisingly well made and were SUPER fun for everyone to squirt at one another (not to mention refreshing – it was 90 degrees that day. Phew.).

The most magical moment of Jonah’s TWO the Rescue party was having our local volunteer fire department stop by! This is not a widely advertised service (at least in our town), probably for obvious reasons, but volunteer departments will often stop by kid parties (for free – they’re non-profit!) so long as there aren’t any active fire calls.

I cannot say enough good things about these guys. They not only showed up lights-and-sirens in the truck, but they brought their mascot dog, Sparky, plastic firehats for all, and FIRE TRUCK RIDES FOR THE KIDS!!!! I mean, I could not stop squealing in glee, let alone the kids.

It was such a fun, unique experience for everyone, the kids had a blast, and the guys were educating everyone on fire safety while we rode around the neighborhood. But how often do you get to ride around in a real fire truck?! In all seriousness, when it comes to 2nd birthday themes or 2 year old birthday ideas, “two the rescue” pops up primarily in two ways online: with rescue vehicles, and with superheroes. And it was SO sweet to make it happen with our local hometown heroes, to represent what REAL heroes look like and do everyday.

We did feed the guys and leave a nice donation for the department, which I’d highly recommend doing!!! Support your local fire department!!!

For the rest of party food, we kept it simple keeping up with the “firehouse” theme – chili dogs on the grill, barbecue, potato salad, cole slaw, fruit and veggies with dip. Then, fun frosted two the rescue shortbread cookies I had made by a local baker (who also did Jonah’s first rodeo birthday party cookies last year!)

A good way to bring home any theme party is with your drinks – and a good mocktail or cocktail will do the trick!

Naturally, we kept it going here: Po-Po Punch and Firetruck Fizz.

For the Po-Po Punch: Blue Gatorade and Sprite. I kept blue sanding sugar on a plate for rimming!

For the Firetruck Fizz: Cranberry Juice and Strawberry seltzer water. Raspberry syrup was the side addition here to pour over ice before adding your drink for anyone wanting an additional sweet twist!

ALSO BEFORE I FORGET…did you know I added all of my past party invitations as downloadable templates on Etsy?? I designed them all myself and often got Q’s on where they were from when sharing past party themes, so I wanted to add them all to one handy dandy place for you to be able to use yourself if you’re doing a similar theme for your own kiddos soon. (Also included my baby sprinkle invite there – enjoy!)

Click the collage below to shop! Although heads up – Jonah obviously wore a firetruck outfit for the party…that was because his adorable embroidered shirt didn’t make it in time. While I lovelovelove supporting small shops, this shipped on the last possible day and ended up taking over a week to arrive, so I was super bummed. Just a heads up to order waaaaay in advance if you’re interested!