ye be warned...

jack chose pirates as his birthday party theme around august.  i should've taken advantage of halloween, but i was too busy with that party to think about another moooonths away!  we ended up finding some great things around our house, in gran's stash, at uncle david's house, and on amazon to pull together a fun pirate-themed party in february!

the weather was perfect for our outside party - thank goodness - so we all enjoyed the sunshine and my house enjoyed the germs staying out this round.  we are still recovering from illnesses picked up at maddy's party (which was on the 26th - it's been three weeks!)....

we sent out this invitation on parchment paper in bottles with sand, jewels, and twine to all the kiddos (a special shout-out to the talented leslie k for her advice):

we set this guy up to greet the guests:

he was accompanied by the pirates of the caribbean ride's entry with the haunting 'dead men tell no tales' part.  some of the kids were a little afraid, but most of them thought it was so cool.  i hung out on the front porch and greeted people, sending them through the house to the backyard for some fun.  we asked the kids to sign a treasure map, grab a pirate hat and an eye patch, before heading back.  they were all great sports and looked so darn cute!  i should've encouraged costumes, but i didn't want to stress any parents out - if we have another costume-friendly theme next year though, i'm definitely doing just that!

once outside, pirates discovered pirate games!

we were thinking pirate-y carnival meets jake and the neverland pirate's collection of gold doubloons.

the characters collect the gold doubloons, then save them in their treasure box.  our plan was to collect the coins, then turn them in for a 'prize'.  it worked out well and kept the attention of the kids for quite some time!  gran, unc david, and unc jd dressed as pirates to man the games!

 jack helped a ton with the game ideas - he wanted to play a game where you throw a ping pong ball into a cup (i swear we do not allow beer pong watching or participating!).  walking the plank was obvious.  the tin can toss was one of pete's ideas and jack thought of bowling with a coconut!  he is too cute.  i insisted upon names for the games so we could decorate the backyard a tad more.  pete lashed together these pieces of wood we stained with rope from home depot.  we used paper wrapping - like postal paper - to make the sign, and i cut out letters.  these could've used more work, color, or something, but we really ran out of time!

 we got balloons blown up to serve as canon balls -- we learned our lesson that balloons at 5yo height was longevity do not mix.  i think they popped by kid #3's arrival!

after an hour or so collecting coins, we decided to sing happy birthday and eat cake.  

 we got all the kids going with the cake and then had them turn in their gold coins for the prize - an inflatable sword!  the kids were SO happy:

after sword fighting for a while, it was time to start wrapping up the pirate party!  one last good time - a pinata - before hustling everyone out the door:

maddy enjoying watching the chaos!

and because i like decorations, here are jack's inside details:

 canon balls with pirate sayings and birthday greetings

 coconut heads and weapons

 a pirate banner

 water, sand, and canons

 argh cupcakes

 i really couldn't get enough of these guys...

it was an exhausting couple weeks, but our kids truly had a blast at their parties!