Austin's Birthday

Austin's birthday was on the 14th and Travis is a firm believer that you should get presents on your actual birthday. So, Austin got to open presents from us and Alex. He was so excited because he got pirate legos, a spiderman bike helmet, and HEELY'S. He has been asking for them for a year and a half and we felt like he was finally old enough to handle them. Last Saturday we celebrated Austin's 6th birthday with a pirate party. We invited everyone to come in pirate costume and when they got here they got to pick out a pirate tattoo. After everyone got their tattoo, we told them that someone had stolen the treasure and we had to go find it. Their first clue was to go outside where we played a game. We played musical islands and when your number was called you had to walk the plank. We got some great pictures of the kids jumping off the plank. Their second clue led them to the bathroom where they found a sack full of sashes to add to their pirate costumes. Once everyone had a sash they got their third clue which led them back outside. Travis had drawn two pirate ships on the road outside. We divided the kids up into two teams and they had to answer pirate questions. If they got the answer right they got to throw a water balloon at the other teams pirate ship. The first team to "sink the ship", or completely erase the chalk won. I guess I got the wrong kind of water balloons, because they wouldn't pop!!! They had to stand right over the ship and throw the balloon straight down as hard as they could. Oh well, they still had fun. The winning team got the next clue which led them inside to the play room. There were 20 black balloons and only one had the next clue. The little pirates had to pop all the balloons to find it. They had so much fun with this too. The next clue led them to the family room to decorate their very own eye patch. We had patches in a bunch of different colors and then had glitter pens ( a huge hit) and markers. Once they finished decorating they went and had the elastic measured for their head and put on their patch. For their next clue they were supposed to go "fishing" but we were running out of time. So, we just started handing out the gold fish in little baggies. The last clue was attached to one of the bags so when that person found it they read it out loud. It led them to the basement under the stairs. They found the treasure!!!! We brought the treasure chest upstairs and divvied up the loot while the kids had cake and punch. I just have to say that the only person to spill their drink was . . . MY DAD!!!! All of those little kids running around the family room and my dad was the culprit! While all the little pirates were eating their cake Austin opened presents. He loved his party and all his pirate friends that came. I think we counted 23 pirates all together and about 16 adults. I had a very full house! It was a very busy day, but we had so much fun!!! By the end of the day I couldn't move!!! I'm so glad I don't have to plan another child party until January! Don't worry though, Alex is already talking about the kind of party he wants to have. Can anyone say "To Infinity and Beyond. . . ."