Ahoy, Mateys!

Hey - did you know that Sam had a birthday, and that it was a MONTH ago.  Let's go ahead and document that event, shall we?

I suppose you know that your kiddo is, in fact, a kid when they start planning their birthdays months in advance.  That is Sam now.  Every time he goes to another kid's party, he talks about his own.  Not gonna lie, he talks a lot about the presents he will receive.  But he also talked about theme, location, activities.  He is getting more sophisticated in his ability to anticipate!

So the fact that we had just moved and I wasn't unpacked and was overwhelmed did not release me from the obligation of planning a party for him.  In fact, the week of the party I had to admit my limits and put house work to the side in favor of party prep.

This year, with some guidance from mom, Sam selected a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party.  Don't have little ones?  Jake is a friendly pirate who always makes up with Hook at the end of the episode.  Not scary, but he still carries a sword.  Perfect.  And, I found the perfect location - the Zion playground!  Sam helped with the shopping this year, and picked out some of the supplies.  He insisted on the pinata.  Not sure why the 4 year olds love them so much, they ALWAYS need help from a bigger kid or grown up to get them open!

Chris and I will never forget the way our guests sweat through Sam's first birthday party, and we will plan all of his subsequent parties accordingly.  With the outdoor venue in mind, we planned a morning party.  You'll notice that everyone is in pants, so the temperature didn't turn out to be an issue.  Still glad we did it early, though - it POURED all afternoon on party day!  Anywho, the morning party means easy food: donut holes and cut up fruit!  And a Pirate Ship cake, of course!  Sam insisted that "we" make a cake again.  What a fun tradition its turning out to be - and this year required NO food coloring!

Gommy and Papa came in town for the celebration and were a big help getting everything set up.  Annabelle walked around the playground like she owns it (we play there after school 3 days a week) and we made the mistake of letting her.  She took a spill off of the bouncy bridge while we were hanging balloons.  She was find, but she definitely looks for me before crossing it now.  Honestly, that's just fine!

After some playground time, we started in on the activities.  They grabbed their pirate hooks and played in the pop-up pirate ship.  We played pin the X on the treasure map.  The kids all decorated wooden treasure boxes, which they used to collect their loot from the treasure chest pinata.  Of course the girls loved the craft and turned out some lovey boxes completely covered in jewel stickers.  Sam's put his name on it, two jewels and was done.  Max put all his jewel stickers on the inside, because that's where the treasure goes.  At least one boy collected treasure in a completely undecorated box.  And Gommy couldn't resist and made one of her own, you know, for Annabelle. 

 

 

 

They wore their pirate masks to participate in the treasure hunt.  How do you do a treasure/scavenger hunt with a group of non-readers?  With pictures, of course?  Each time they found a picture, they were to run over to the location pictured to find the next "clue."  Of course, they found them a bit out of order and took a few down ahead of time, but we got it all worked out and they had a good time.  Miles was particularly focused!  And in spite of a few mis-placed clues, they still found the treasure box, with party bags inside!

 

And of course, we ate cake!

 

Sam did throw a fit when he couldn't open his gifts at the party.  That's just not done these days!  I usually don't give in to those things, but I really didn't want him to be miserable for the rest of the party, so I took him inside to open one.  It helped a little, but the anticipation was still torture for him.

All in all it was a fun party.  A good mix of kids (Sam picked the guest list himself.  I read his preschool class list and he said yes or no to each name.  "No, she hits.  No, he's only friends with ___."  He picked the church friends he wanted to include.  I was very pleased with his selections!

Naturally, he was barely in the door when he started opening his gifts, which he carried in from the car himself.  It is fun to see him get so excited, but we are no in a place where we have to balance that with a surprising level of materialism from the little boy.  Hmm...

Gommy and Papa brought some really cool gifts with them, too!

Quite the day for little - I mean big - boy.  He was tired, but happy.  He really thought that the party was his birthday.  That you have to go to a birthday.  Despite our best efforts, he kept telling us that the party was his "actual birthday" (it was not) and that the 30th was his "birthday date."  We'll get there.