Sunday, July 7, 2013

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! It's A Pirate Party For Nicholas!

Yesterday was the BIG day!  It was the pirate party!   We have had rain on and off since Monday and steady showers pretty much since Wednesday and as our luck would have it, it rained the entire party and was only 74 degrees.  (I never dreamed it would be less than 85 degrees at one of our birthday parties!) However, we chose joy and had a good time anyway!  My parents' big gift to Nicholas was a pirate ship swimming pool.  Michael inflated it and started putting water in it during nap time, so we got him dressed and let him go outside where he found his pool...in the rain!

Nicholas and Tate were begging on Thursday to play in the rain, but we promised them they could at the party on Saturday and they LOVED it!!!  They drove that pirate ship through some serious rain!  :-)  (no, my yard isn't neatly cut, it has rained for a week! It made my OCD self nuts, but oh well!)

We finally convinced the boys to go inside and put on warm clothes for dinner and cake.  My friend Chea made Nicholas his party shirt and it was PERFECT!

We put the table under the cover on the patio and the kids and moms were able to eat outside and in the dry.  When we bought our house I didn't like that it was a covered patio, but I was beyond thankful while I was setting up the table!

Our family at the party

This was the first year that Nicholas really got the concept of blowing out his candle and we have practiced all week!  :-)  He is good at it now!  

Nicholas dove right into that cupcake!!!  I was just happy he chose a red one to match his shirt!  Haha!

We put up our canopy right off the covered patio and it was used as a tattoo parlor for the 1st part of the party, but later became the gathering area for the men.  It was a good way to make some space on a rainy day.  One of the best $50 I've ever spent!  Definitely came in handy today!

Not only has Nicholas mastered blowing out his candles, but he is pretty good at opening gifts now too!  I enjoyed being able to watch him and not do it for him this year!  Notice Tate and Nicholas are now on their THIRD outfit of the night!  They kept going outside to play in the rain, so we kept having to change them!  Oh those wild boys!

Instead of doing traditional favors I wanted to make a fun treasure chest for them.  My parents had an old antique trunk at our old house and were going to sell it in a yard sale last year, but I saved it and brought it home knowing it would be PERFECT for this!  We built it up and stuffed it with gold tissue paper then placed necklaces, rings, gold coins, and stickers in it.  The kids then filled up small buckets with their loot!  It was a HUGE hit!  The kids and parents all loved it!

The last of our guests left around 10:00 and within 15 minutes this was the scene in Nicholas' room.  Out cold with the quilt over his head and a sword!  He was DONE!  

All and all, rain or not, it was a FABULOUS party and we had so much fun!  A HUGE thanks to Gigi for all of her hard work over the last week to help get ready and to my cousin Lindsey for coming early to help me get the last minute things done and get Nicholas ready for us.  I couldn't have done it without you both!  This was my personal favorite party I've done for Nicholas so far.  I'll be back tomorrow with the details of the party, but it was the most fun to prep for.  The decorations were a lot of fun and Nicholas loved them!  The kids had a blast, the parents all seemed to have fun, and I would say this party was definitely a win!