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.
Henry had already had two special playdates with Mary but Will hadn't seen much of her, so he was excited about her visit.
He showed her his treasure. 
And then she and Pop investigated our pirate ship. 
Pirate faces
Happy faces
Then it was time to make a band. 
There's always time for music at our house. 
And we always have time for a visit (or four) with cousins!
We already had a homework assignment over the weekend. Henry and I decorated a leaf for the classroom's family tree. We included a picture of our whole family, a picture of Henry in his pirate gear and some pirate and fish stickers. Henry also wrote his name on construction paper and we glued it across the front. 
Henry gave me two hugs and two kisses and walked right into his classroom -- no tears! He was pretty happy to see me at pick-up time, but his teachers reported that he had fantastic first day!
Will is so serious. He is doing a maze here. 
We love their cornbread with cinnamon butter. Delish. 
After lunch, we hit a bouncy house place for a little friend's birthday party. Will loved the pirate ship bouncy house and made a mad pirate face to go with it. 
We had a great day together. It was just perfect, except for this:
I actually saw the temp go up to 109* several times! Will August ever end??
I love these pictures...and we all love this wonderful family. We are so lucky to call them friends.
After gymnastics, Henry was ready to go get Will from school. It was 10:30 am. School gets out at 3pm. We had several hours to kill, so we went clothes shopping for the boys and had a special lunch out. 
Mary was visiting Nana and Pop for the week, so she came over three times. She and Henry are only 9 months apart and they play so well together!
They did several puzzles, 
played in Henry's tent (Baby was there too),
and played with Henry's new take-apart car.
Henry also tried to teach Mary how to spell his name, but she insisted on putting an S in it. She's only 2 1/2.
We took the brownies to school today and met Henry's teachers and new classroom. I left my camera and phone at home, so I have no pictures! The school is great. It was just renovated over the summer and is beautiful and new and Henry's teachers are amazing. I already have his weekly schedule for next week, so I know exactly what they are doing. They even have five field trips already planned out for their three-year-old class. We completely lucked out with two wonderful teachers and a fantastic new school for Henry!
Sometimes we even pick Will up wearing our pirate costume. Why not?
We're all looking forward to a relaxed weekend, but who are we kidding? It will be as busy as ever. There's one thing I know for sure, though: we will all still be in our jammies at 7am tomorrow morning!
Henry woke up just as Will was getting ready to go. Hugs for the little brother. 
So excited to be starting Kindergarten!
The long walk from the car... 
and showing off his new backpack. 
Will felt all settled in his new classroom. I got three hugs and three kisses and then he waved goodbye. No tears! 
Will's teacher sent all the parents home with a small bag loaded up with a cotton ball, tissue and tea bag, along with this note. 
And at 3pm, Henry and I found a parking spot along with hundreds of other moms, trekked to school in the 100* heat and found our big boy grinning away with his new classmates. I had felt so anxious all day, just hoping Will was doing okay and enjoying himself...and turns out, he was. Will had a great first day of Kindergarten and is already excited to do it all over again tomorrow.
Henry and Bella shared a chair. 
