Arrrr!! Now THAT was a party!!!

When we found out that the waterslides at a local hotel where Josh wanted to have his 7th birthday party were undergoing renovations, Josh announced that he wanted to have a pirate-themed party at home instead.  We thought it was a great idea... and embraced it... A LOT!!!

When we sent out the invitations, we had no set plan in mind.  But we had a blast soaking the invitations in tea and burning the edges.  Little did we know how much things would escalate as the ideas started rolling...

We ended up having to move the date to Sunday September 8th when we finally clued in that we'd originally booked the party during Pete's trip to site.  Fortunately the wait was worth it...

My friend Melissa is a party planner and I credit her with many of the ideas and concepts that brought the party to life.  She suggested things and I ran with them.  She is entirely responsible for the transformation of our house which she literally threw together a couple of hours before the party.  She also supplied the amazing costumes Pete, Ethan, Leah and I wore.  It was an incredible amount of work bringing it all together but it was so worth it... and so much fun!  Josh won't soon forget his 7th birthday...

I actually designed and printed these shirts myself.  I am now obsessed with iron-on transfers.  They were so easy to do and the reaction from the kids was awesome.  Josh tells me that everyone is wearing them at school this week.  Three cheers for Walmart undershirts and a colour cartridge!!

The dining room all set up.

The bandana, eye patch, sword and bead station.

How's that for a front room display???

Pirate Leah waiting for the party to start.

Jen and Ethan ready to go!

Pirate Pete waiting to greet the kids in the garage. 

The kids arrived through the garage and did some pirate colouring while we waited for everyone to arrive.

Once all the party guests had arrived, I announced that we had a serious problem.  The gold had been stolen by Pirate Pete!!  All that he'd left in its place was a letter addressed to Pirate Josh:

The treasure hunt took the kids through a variety of tasks that included dressing up as pirates, playing games, eating dinner, opening presents, eating cake, walking the plank, and popping cannon ball balloons.

The kids working on their bandanas, beads and eye patches.  In the background you can see Melissa, the party planner extraordinaire and her husband Geoff (the other long-haired Pirate).

The entire crew all outfitted and ready to go!

Ethan demonstrating the obstacle course he created.

An awesome shot of Josh with Pirate Pete.

Leah walking the plank.

The kids had to land 5 rings on the hooks to receive their next clue.

Taking a break to refuel!

 

The treasure chest cake that took me less than 30 minutes to make.  When in doubt add more candy to cover up any problem areas!  Super easy and very well received!

Happy birthday Josh!

The clue after cake and presents led them to the backyard where Pirate Pete was launching cannon balls.

After all the cannon balls were popped, the next task was to draw their swords and take down Pirate Pete!  He had snuck the garden hose up on to the fort and gave Ethan the thumbs up to turn it on.  He thought it would deter the kids.  He was wrong!!  I caught a bit of the attack on video:

VICTORY!!!

Finding the gold with 10 minutes to spare!

Needless to say it was an awesome party and we all had a blast!!  Now on to planning Ethan's party... eek!