WARNING: POST WITH LOTS OF PICTURES. GO AWAY IF YOU DON'T FANCY WAITING. OR GO GET A CUP OF MILO WHILE YOU WAIT.
As promised, here are the raw pictures (courtesy of my SILs who hogged the camera most of the time) of Aiden's Disney Cars 2nd Birthday Party plus our Housewarming Event!
For your reference, below are links to all the resources I used during the actual party (for resources used for the preparation of the party, check out the previous post, or contact me for more details):
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Lightning McQueen inspired cupcakes, swirl cupcakes and even macarons by
Shireen Bakes-
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Helium balloons and gamemaster by Party Shop (removed the link cos I do not recommend their services)
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Bouncing castle by a fellow neighbour
Main caterer (fried macaroni and satay) by Mama Nani catering
Roasted lamb was a recommendation by a fellow friend
Fried kuey teow by Mamat in Bukit Jelutong
Nasi Briyani and Soto Medan by a relative and MIL respectively
Arabian khemah (tent) was a recommendation by a Hubby's friend
Everything else you don't see on this list, was made lovingly by me, myself and I (with the help of a lot of tiny elves and cheap labour)!
Just a short story about our t-shirts for the day. We found a huge selection of Disney Cars t-shirts at the San Marcos Disney Outlet store. Unfortunately, they didn't have the same designs for kids and adults. But since I was so adamant that I wanted all three of us to wear the same design, I made both myself and Hubby try out the largest size that they had (which was a 10-12years old). It fit me okay albeit a bit short, but it was definitely tight for Hubby! And still I wanted to take it! So two of their largest size and one of their smallest size (for Aiden, duh...).
Fast forward to a week before the party, I was so relieved that the t-shirt still fits me. But for dear Hubby, it was still tight! (I don't know what I was expecting, for my husband to shrink or something?) So in the end we went to Pertama Complex, first plan was to just scan the t-shirt and reprint it but then the scanning wasn't so clear and we had to find an alternative. In the end we asked one of the tailors within the building whether they could cut the image out and sew it to a bigger t-shirt. And I was oh so impressed with the end result! I even asked him to make Aiden's t-shirt smaller, since that picky eater is just shrinking by the day! So we all wore matching t-shirts in the end.
In a nut shell, i'm just trying to creatively tell you that I am smaller than Mr Hubby. Okay bye!!! *grin*
Anyway, enough talk, let's look at pictures!
Lovely day, alhamdulillah!
If you're wondering, my garden is 30feet wide. Which is how I managed to fit two khemahs, one bouncing castle and a podium. The khemah for food was placed outside our side BBQ gate (the small white tent on the right). Notice the checkered flags in front of the flower bed?
So funny, while we were busy pumping the bouncing castle, Aiden kept jumping on the deflated plastic and said "Toing! Toing" but the minute it was inflated, he ran away in fear, shrieking "Takutnya!!!"
Bought this board at the Dollar Shop for of course, a dollar. Hung it at our front door.
A neighbour asked me after the event, how much I paid for this dessert table setup. I paid zero, cos this setup was all my own effort! *
proud smile*
Okay since it was my own effort, indulge in another picture, will
ya?
The birthday cake, two tiers of cake, while Lightning McQueen was made entirely out of fondant (it was too complicated, heavy and expensive to make it out of cake). Candle purchased in Houston, but we never got to light it up cos the cake was so high it blocked the candle in front. Anyone planning a Disney Cars birthday and needs a candle, let me know.
Chocolate covered cars.
Lightning McQueen cupcakes, swirl cupcakes and macaroons. Bought the Disney Cars cupcake liners for the swirl cupcakes in Houston., but it was such a waste of money. After baking, the liners were so thin that they looked like they were soaked in oil!
It was so windy that we couldn't put the helium balloons outside. So they ended up at our patio walkway.
Laid the handfans at the TV panel, for anyone who couldn't take the heat.
Yours truly modelling the handfan. It never left my hand the whole party, and it definitely kept me cool!
The early guests.
Since it was still early, we invited the security guards for some food so that they could avoid the afternoon crowd.
Fried macaroni and satay. That's Ann the chief caterer. Really happy with her, she handled all the food throughout the party, even the ones which weren't under her care.
The scrumptious Kuey Teow. If you're ever in Bukit Jelutong, please go try it out.
All made fresh on the spot!
Roasted lamb. The package came with garlic bread, mashed potatoes and coleslaw.
Nyummy!
Fruit tarlets and mushroom quiche for dessert.
SIL took a plate of food for herself and offered some to me. I took two bites, and that was the only food I consumed throughout the party!
I hope the food's good, lady!
And finally the birthday boy woke up.
The younger kids were colouring at the patio, in front of the dessert table.
Aiden joined them in the colouring session for a bit, then he found his obsession and started playing on his own in the midst of the crowd.
More and more guests started to arrive.
A goody bag (or should I say cup) for each child.
This way to Aiden's party!
The enthusiastic older kids participated in the games, hoping to win some Disney Cars prizes.
They played,
erm... whack the sack?
And step on the newspaper?
The kids waiting patiently while the gamemasters started setting up the next game.
The kids surely had fun! Prizes include Disney Cars remote controlled cars, jigsaw puzzles and stationary sets.
Meanwhile, in the cooler side of the house, the other kids were having their faces painted.
Sze Anne was so thoughtful, she pre-made Lightning McQueen stencils to save time. But in the end, each face paint was different from the next in subtle ways such as colour and streaks.
Look at how crowded it was in the house.
And outside the house!
The kids brought home one ball each. A fellow neighbour told me that she had to write her child's name on the ball to avoid confusion since nearly every child in the housing area received a similar ball.
The kids enjoying themselves with the decorative items.
And then, it was time to cut the cake!
We had to cut the cake twice because we had so many requests for photographs.
Happy 2nd birthday, Aiden!
Aiden's uncle, Darwish (
yes, uncle!) wanted to join in the fun.
The pit stop girls?
The cake being carted back to the house.
Lovely roses from a fellow colleague as a housewarming present. I hope they don't die! I don't exactly have green fingers.
Topping up the chocolate cars.
And then the swirl cupcakes.
Pinata time! There was quite a queue to pull the string off the pinata.
Kids scrambling to collect the candy.
Kiss kiss!
With my pet sister from school! So sweet of her to come. The last time I saw her was when I had just delivered Aiden, 2 years ago!
Aiden having a sugar high.
BBGS gang, thank you for coming, and even dressing up according to theme!
SIL teaching Aiden how to blow.
Due to all the excitement and activities around him, Aiden didn't even bother for food. In the end he had a banana. Well at least, that's something!
By evening, most of the guests had already gone home when Aiden finally found the courage to step into the bouncing castle.
We hope you enjoyed your 2nd birthday Aiden. We love you to bits and pieces!
Instead of the solid boxed staircases, they used thin wooden strips nailed and welded to steel.
It was during this visit they we found out that the Cahaya SPK show house windows were actually lowered to create clearance for the attic. You see how those two windows are of the same height? They were both lowered! In our house, those two windows are higher, therefore the intermediate landing for the attic actually clashes with one of them.
As for the main landing, this is constructed using wall-to-wall steel trusses. The bottom is then covered with plaster ceiling (plus wiring for the downlights) and the top with wood and then laminated flooring.
This is a picture of the construction of the main landing at our house. You can even see the white PVC pipe which covers the wiring for the lighting.
Another view. See what I mean?
Then the solid wood staircases and handrails were installed, followed by the finishings.
See the window on the right? This is the original height of the window.
This is the window on the left. We had to lower this so that it doesn't clash with the intermediate landing. (It was either lower one, lower both to match or cover it completely. We chose the second cheapest option - lower one!)
