Will's Pirate Party

Will's pirate birthday party was awesome! I think it may have been my best party to date... but I cannot take all the credit. My amazing husband, aka Pirate Red Beard, was the hit of the party. We had one very happy (and very tired) 5-year-old pirate at the end of the day. The guests started trickling in and I started snapping photos. Will and Hudson are starting K together on Monday! Will's school buddy, Ty, and his brother Devon drove down from Kingwood! Arrgh! And you know when Chloe and Bella arrive, it's going to be one big hug fest.
And aren't these the cutest girl pirate shirts? Belinda said she found them at Old Navy and knew they'd be perfect for Will's pirate party. LOVE! Our boys' pirate shirts are from OshKosh.
As the party guests arrived, the kiddos decorated spyglasses (toilet paper tubes) with markers and pirate stickers. We were so excited that cousin Mary could come to the party this year!The parents (and grandparents) chatted. And you know we couldn't have a pirate party without inviting our favorite pirate -- Pirate Red Beard! My boys were so excited to see Pirate Red Beard! Henry knows it's Daddy, but Will still believes 100% that Pirate Red Beard is a real pirate who just magically appears out of our closet every now and again. Once Pirate Red Beard has his crew assembled, they set off on a pirate adventure, to find pirate treasure, of course!I wrote out 13 riddles, on treasure maps from Oriental Trading Company, that took the pirates all over the house and into the backyard in search of their bag of gold. Sophie and Chloe solved this riddle: A rocket ship flies right to the moon. The next treasure clue is... and the answer was "in Henry's room." The final clue took the pirate crew out back to the playhouse, where they found their sack of gold doubloons. Pirate Pop had some words of wisdom about how to divvy up the loot. And then Pirate Red Beard posed for some pictures with his pirate crew. If you haven't seen Gene in action, as Pirate Red Beard, it is a bit hard to explain how amazing he is. He had all the kids (and a couple of the parents too!) convinced he was a real pirate and when he departed, the kids were banging on the bedroom door demanding to see the pirate again.
After running all around the house, the pirate crew needed snacks and juice boxes.
And then I happily turned my camera over to Candice, who is a much better photographer than I am, and she snapped photos for the rest of the party. Will and Chloe peeked out from behind the cupcakes. And then it was cupcake time!
Will still didn't want anyone to sing to him, but he made his wish (he wished for treasure!) and blew out his big ol' candle. Henry and Bella shared a chair. And Will devoured his lemon cupcake. Candice got a cute picture of Henry and me
and we tried for one of the four of us, but Will was off like a flash to open his gifts.
We've never opened gifts at the party before, but Will was insistent and it actually worked out well. Kate recorded who gave which gift, Candice snapped pictures, Kate and Candice cleaned up all the mess from the gift wrap, and Nancy tidied up the kitchen! Will even remembered to thank each party guest for their gift.
Will got some super cool new toys and gear. After all our friends left and we collapsed on the couch, we declared this pirate party the best party ever. Will says he loved his party "all the way to the end of the galaxy and back." And that's really all I needed to hear.