Andrew's Birthday

Today we had Andrew's 8th birthday party. There were supposed to be 7 kids in all, including Andrew and Sam, but since no one knows how to RSVP anymore these days I had no idea who was coming. I planned for 8 to be on the safe side. As it turned out, the three who didn't RSVP didn't show, so I guess they did what they were supposed to do. I know that one of them was out of town, but the other two were home and just didn't come. I always worry that the parents feel like they HAVE to send a gift with their kiddo. We always request their "presence" not their "presents", but I still feel that probably comes into play.

Either way, we had a great day. Andrew is all into pirates so I went all out with the pirate gear at the party store. I even got one of those stand up, stick your head through the hole thingies for taking pictures.



I took pics of the three who came and emailed them to their parents. I thought they'd enjoy that. When everyone first got here though we had a massive treasure hunt for the kids' goodie bags. Yesterday I ran around the house snapping pics of good hiding places and then printed them out and cut each picture into fours. I took each one and put it in a ziploc and then hid it. Each puzzle/picture was the location of their next clue. I had separated the kids into two teams and I told them that the first team to get back to me with their bags got to choose a prize from the treasure chest first. I got a few pirate odds and ends (swords, hooks, pirate jewelry) to put in the chest. It was a riot watching them scurry from clue to clue, but it really didn't last as long as I wanted it to. Next time I'm gonna use clues further from the house, maybe different spots around the neighborhood so they'll be at it longer. They had so much fun! They all got to choose from the prizes in the end so it was mostly just fun. After that we played "pin the flag on the 'X'", which is the pirate variation of the donkey game we all know and love. The pirate cup you see in the above picture was the prize for that one, but when I was telling the kids about the prize I referred to the cup (in my best pirate voice) as the "highly coveted pirate chalice." At the end of the day when the little boy who won was leaving he yelled, "Wait a minute so I can get my coveted chalice!" I was tickled to say the least.

Andrew made out like a bandit this year on gifts. He was very happy and played intently with all of his pirate things for the rest of the day. I, of course, had to remove the pirate decorations from the dining room and promptly transport them to Andrew's bedroom per his request. So now there are 'Beware of Pirates' and 'Landlubbers Keep Out' plastered all over, but as long as he keeps order in that shipwreck of a room I will gladly sustain from making him walk the plank! Oh Lord, forgive me for my cheesy humor this evening. I know not what I say!! All in all we had a lot of fun. Oh and if anyone in my Fort Hood area needs to borrow pirate gear just let me know!!