Dawson's 5th birthday party was last weekend, and it was SO much fun!! Dawson is just like his Mommy in that he is a planner, so it was no surprise when in September (yes, 8 months before his birthday) he announced that he wanted his party to have a pirate theme! He stuck with his desire for a pirate party for the whole 8 months leading up to the party. It was great! I had a ton of time to plan games and decoration ideas! Dawson LOVED talking about his party for months and what different things he wanted to do! Anticipation was most definitely part of the fun for he and I both on this party!
So for his previous 4 birthdays, we have always been very lucky and been able to have his parties in our backyard without ever being rained out! This year we had to push the party back from Saturday to Sunday afternoon because they were calling for a lot of rain. Wouldn't you know it, it actually ended up being sunny during the time we were going to have the party after we had moved it! It worked out well though because it was warmer on Sunday which meant the kids enjoyed the water games even more!
On to the party!
Here Dawson is in his party outfit. His 5th birthday shirt with his pirate swim shorts, pirate hat, and eye patch!
I had used the giant chalkboard signs for Carter's party, and I hadn't intended on using them for Dawson's until he asked what I was going to write on them for him. So, he got signs too!
This sign was our menu! We had Buccaneer Burgers, Fish and Chips (goldfish crackers and potato chips), Polly's Crackers and Cheese, Fruit Loot (sliced fresh fruit on sword toothpicks0), Pirates Booty, Sunken Treasure (clear cups full of blue jello with Swedish Fish candies swimming inside), the Cap'n's Cake, and Sea Water (bottled water), Jolly Roger's Juice (apple juice), and Sunken Sodas.
A special request by Dawson was for me to draw a pirate ship on this sign. :)
Each kid got a little bag of treasure (gold coin toys, gold coin candy, and a necklace), a pirates hat, and an eye patch, so this sign reminded them to take their LOOT!
Dawson was SOOO excited about the part of the party where they got to Walk the Plank! This was probably the aspect of the party he talked about THE MOST leading up to it!
We had this hanging up for photo ops for our little pirates!
My big 5 year old pirate at the food table!
Now that's a serious pirate face!
Pirate Dawson holding a gold coin.
You can also see our treasure chest piñata in the background!
Arrrgh!
All about my big 5 year old!
(He claimed his favorite color was black when I quizzed him for this board, but he then told me "it will probably change soon. I have do switch to all the colors." Haha!
Dawson's special request for the cake was a cake shaped like a pirate ship! Which I made (see the two pictures below), but I got worried that it was going to not fare so well in the heat, so I also made this treasure map cake! Luckily both cakes worked out perfectly, and we just had a lot of cake!
He was SOOOO happy with his pirate ship cake!
Happy 5th birthday to our big pirate!
Nora Kate enjoyed the party in her swim suit! She relaxed on a blanket in the yard with her Lolly most of the time!
Another major request and thing Dawson was REALLY looking forward to was a treasure hunt! I made the treasure map above from scrapbook paper and then burned the edges! Dawson LOVED it! The pictures below are a little out of order, but the first stop on our treasure hunt was to SWAB the DECK! This meant spraying and washing the sidewalk chalk from the driveway! The next stop was to SPY a PIRATES FLAG and say ARRRGH! We had hung a pirates flag from a pole on a tree in the backyard! Next we had to DEFEAT the PIRATE with RED CANNONS! This meant going to the shed where a pirate was on the door. There were 175 red cannons (water balloons) that the kids got to throw at the pirate! They LOVED this! Let me tell you though, filling 175 water balloons takes about 2 hours...using them at the party took less than 5 minutes! :) The next step on the treasure hunt was to walk the plank! The kids LOVED this too!
Finally the big hint was that the treasure box was BURIED UNDER WATER! The kids first suggested we look under the pools or the water table but I suggested we look under the bottled waters! :) John buried a treasure box in the ground for me (hard work!), and it was full of gold coins, gold coin candy, and necklaces! The kids LOVED digging in the ground to find this!
Defeating the pirate at the shed!
Swabbing the Deck!
Every good pirate has a tattoo! So the kids could get tattoos at this little station if they wanted!
We had cannon bean bag balls to throw through this to sink these ships!
Defeating the pirate at the shed.
Defeating the pirate at the shed!
For some reason the kids decided to drink from the slip n slide?!
This little guy (Jackson) was SO HAPPY in the water!
Hayden wanted to drink the water too!
On our treasure hunt!
Dawson also requested we have a piñata shaped like a treasure chest!
Make a wish!
Carter had to have a turn too! :)
We filled the piñata FULL of candy! I think we actually (is it possible?!) had too much candy because the kids didn't grab it all! HAHA!
This is the front of the thank you notes Dawson sent. He and I worked together to write a personal thank you on the back.
We also played pin the eye patch on the pirate!
After the party was over we let the kids get their baths and put on pajamas to wind down a little. Then we let Dawson open his gifts from his sweet and generous friends! It was like another party for him! He loved looking at each card, bag/wrapping paper, and present! He was a good sport and let his brother help him too!
This is the invitation. I covered our address with this white paper for posting on the blog!
Yo ho, Matey!
Lining up to begin the treasure hunt!
Treasure Hunt Time!
Swab the deck!
Swab the deck!
Treasure Hunt!
Defeating the pirate at the shed with red cannons!
Headed to walk the plank!
(I think this is the only picture I managed to get-somehow-of adorable Olivia in her two piece standing at the pool!)
All good pirates walk the plank! Arg!
Digging up treasure!
Digging up treasure!
Opening the treasure box! Look! There's treasure for everyone!
Pin the patch on the pirate!
Pin the patch on the pirate!
Dawson said he had "the best party ever!" which made us smile and know it was completely worth all the time and energy we put into the party! :) Dawson and Carter have been talking about the party A LOT over the past few days, and I'm so glad they enjoyed it!
I always like to record who was at each birthday, so guests at Dawson's 5th birthday pirate parrrrrty included the following: Daddy, Mommy, Carter, Nora Kate, Lolly, Pop, Uncle Logan, Grandad, Nana, Aunt Emily, Uncle Eric, Cousin Drew, Cousin Hailey, Tim, Sara, and Lennox; Chris, Alana, and Colt; Fred, Andrea, Charlie, and Olivia; Ryan, Darcie, Dustin and Blake; Tanya and Bailey; Michelle, Cheyenne, and her Dad; Daniel, Patty, and Hayden; David, Sarah, Alexa, Connor, William; Laura and Jackson. (I think that got everyone!) Yes, we had 40-something people to help celebrate Dawson's big 5th birthday! John and I are so very grateful to everyone who came to help us celebrate Dawson! He had a blast getting to play with all of his friends!
2 comments:
what a great party. It all looks so fun. you guys look fantastic as pirates. aRRRRGGGggggg
Thanks, Jenn!! Having Dawson's birthday parties always makes me think about you guys...I think I will always have that sweet image in my head of Sawyer so kindly pulling Dawson around in his little red wagon in our backyard at Dawson's first birthday party! Sweet friends! :)
Post a Comment