Captain Thomas' Pirate Party

Party day was long awaited and finally here. Thomas is slowly learning what "no, not today, but in five days..." means. He was so excited when he woke up on Saturday and realized that his Pirate Party day had finally arrived!!

The guests started arriving around 11 when my sister and her husband and son arrived. I greeted them at the door and put them to work. Ross and Jared left to get lunch (which i had totally forgotten about...) and to pick up a new toilet seat!! Yep, something bad always happens to that front bathroom before any large gathering. Then when they returned I gave Ross his next assignment on the list, to draw a simple welcome sign/ship on the driveway. This is what we got!! Way more then expected!! It was so cool! Complete with Romans 6:11 on the flag.

The Kid Fun:

Before the hunt could take place, the kids had to learn how to speak pirate and listen to a pirate story. On the hunt, they would have to pay each character a gold d'bloom and say "Yo ho, here you go!" in response to the character's request.

First up was Emma, the crocodile! They would meet someone at every step along the way, that had their next clue waiting for them.

In the end we found a treasure box. And yes, that is my son dressed as a cowboy at his own pirate party. No, I didn't force the pirate theme, it's all he could talk about. Somehow all the boys felt the need to shoot the crocodiles before the party. Thus inspiring Thomas to retrieve any and all guns and gun like objects from his room. Apparently he couldn't do this as a pirate, but needed to be a cowboy... wasn't going to fight that one.

THE GUESTS: (well, some of them)

At his parties, I try to get pictures of Thomas with each of his guests at a photo spot. I use them for his memory books and for thank you notes. This year we had the coolest photo spot and I totally dropped the ball... oh well!!

My two with our friend's Caleb and Hannah. This year Laura couldn't make it so her husband braved the party all by himself!! So glad he did!!

I got most of the kids gathered around the ship for a group shot. Unfortunately it was super shady from the overhang...

The cousin's kids. My mom and her sister have 6 grandsons between them!! Crazy since they had 3 girls, they've entered a whole new territory!! We were almost all together and were able to get this sweet picture of them.

The Cake:

Auntie once again came in and made the awesome cake!! We used cut outs of the characters used on the invitations.

One of my favorites so far!!

The Hunt:

Stop 1: Crocodile Corner

Stop 2: The Pirate Gear Shop

Stop 3: Neverland Island (the hot tub was an island and we had a pirate floating around in the pool on the otherside)

Stop 4: The TB Explorer

Stop 5: Captains Quarters

(for the hunt, Jared was hiding behind the house as Captain Hook (holding a hook and had an eye patch on, not the greatest costume, but it worked) guarding his stolen treasure. Thomas later informed us that Daddy as Captain Hook was his favorite part of the whole party!)

It was a great party and one I'd actually love to do again. In the days since I've thought of so many things i could have done. I think all the kids had a good time, but I know Thomas did for sure.