Captain Will's Birthday Bash

Though I am not one to rush my children to grow up, we decided to throw Will a birthday party a month early this year. I don't know where I will be at the end of August when he turns 3 or if I will have the energy to throw a party then...

so we did it early!

(It was a little confusing to him after the party when he proclaimed he was 3 & we said nope.)

He requested a pirate party (surprise, surprise) & I really got into the theme!

A few weeks ago, I worked on the invitations... in the middle of the night.

R walked into the kitchen where I was staining paper with tea bags. He said I had truly lost it.

He never saw the part where I then put the stained tea paper into the oven to "cook" & then, thankfully remembered to take it out, & burned the edges with a lighter.

No one said I was sane.

Then, I rolled up the dried, stained, cooked, & burned invitations & tied them with some jute and stuffed them into bottles.

You can actually mail little bottles!

I filled the bottles with sand, eye patches, & pirate stickers & we mailed them off to a few little friends.

(We cut back this year - to save our sanity - & only allowed Will to invite boys that are close to his age... sorry sweet little girls who are his friends too! He was restricted! :))

Will loved getting his invitation in a bottle in the mail!

The people at the post office really got into them too! They were so fun to mail!

The day of the party, Will woke up & told his Lovie that he would like a cowboy party.

Thankfully, Lovie is a quick thinker. She sent him back to bed & told him to wake up wanting a pirate party once again.

He did & whew - I can not work magic to turn a pirate party into a cowboy party.

Then, he saw that Mommy was dressed up & the backyard had been turned into a pirate ship.

He was so excited!

Will with his Cookie & Lovie

(any guesses where I get my love of themes & dressing up from???)

And I couldn't leave out Ellie...

I put a pin on Ellie in the Belly that says, "Captain's Girl."

And then I tried to block out my fears about whether or not she would be at Will's birthday parties in the future... or even at his real birthday next month.

Will's Honey & G-Dad gave him this awesome pirate ship! Perfect for the party - & for playing in all day long!

(I found a bumper sticker for it that you can't really read but it says, "God is my co-pirate." Too funny!

Will's fort often doubles as his "pirate ship" as it has a gangplank, a steering wheel, & binoculars. We added a Jolly Roger flag & a blow up shark & the look was complete!

Some of the activities included "digging for gold" in the sandbox where there was buried gold & silver coins, "Catch yer dinner" where the kids went fishing & "swabbing the deck" - one of Will's favorite activities!

Will & I found this awesome "treasure chest" at a garage sale a few weeks ago! Perfect for coolers filled with "island ale" (aka: koolaid tropical water)

The Menu at Jolly Roger's consisted of:

lemonale & island ale along with scurvy dogs (hot dogs), watermelon to keep away the scurvy, veggies because the mum said so, & fish & chips (hold the fish.)

Will's pretend friend, Squawk the parrot, showed up for the party too - which was nice & fitting. (A few weeks ago, he suddenly had this new friend who went everywhere with us, riding on Will's outstretched arm. He talks to Squawk & I admit to totally encouraging it - his imagination brings me lots of joy!)

The "loot" (favor bags) - were tied up in burlap & placed in a treasure chest- which the kids had to find at the end of our treasure hunt.

R made fun of me because before a few of the games, I sat the buccaneers down for a "rules talk."

I can't help it - I used to teach school!

At least I tried to use my pirate voice.

The first game was a watergun fight - lots & lots of fun! Especially when all the boys went after R!

The watergun fight was followed by a sword fight - with inflatable swords.

Can you see the joy on Will's face!?!? He was in heaven!

Then, the buccaneers & Captain Will spied through their telescopes to see enemy ships coming.

So, we shot cannonballs at the enemy.

The kids thought shooting the water balloon cannonballs was great fun.

I think, however, that R enjoyed it the most - I wouldn't be surprised if my stash of balloons & the slingshot go missing soon because he is out shooting things & having a second teenagehood.

The kids rotated at the various stations - swabbing the deck, fishing, & digging for gold.

Swabbing was quite popular & a nice way to get children to work.

Will loves "swabbing" the playroom floor!

While the moms made lunch plates, I read a pirate story to the boys.

And then they finally got lunch.

And then I remembered that we still needed to do the pinata & treasure hunt!

Will had never done a pinata before but really enjoyed it - it was a good outlet for his old hitting issues!

Finding the loot

And then I remembered the cupcakes!

Will happily blew out his candle but wasn't too interested in eating the cupcake. The candy necklace from his loot bag was far more enjoyable, apparently.

Captain Will had a great pirate party & I am so thankful we had the opportunity to celebrate his birthday & give him some attention prior to the chaos that is about to be our life!