Pirate Flag

Maybe it's the cool way of speaking, the action-adventure story-lines (particularly the treasure hunting), or perhaps it's just the eye-patch, but playing pirates is a favorite past-time of my kids.  And even if your kids aren't really into pirates, these two adventures I'm going to share with you in this special Pirate edition of my blog will be sure to please.  I've had no complaints yet!

First off, we have the pirate themed birthday parrrrty.  Trey asked to have one for his 6th birthday party, and it was a major success.  In fact, even though Trey's birthday is in June, kids who had come to his 6th party were telling me at the school's October fall festival that they were coming to his 7th birthday party.  And even kids who had not been invited (only due to not being in his class) were telling him they were coming too.  So we repeated for his 7th, with some fine tuning of and additions to the previous year. 

The most important lesson we learned from the previous year was that, since this pirate themed party centered around a swimming pool, hiring a life guard was a must.  That took a great deal of stress and anxiety off of us and our guests' parents.  (But it didn't save the inflatable pirate boat from sinking.)

And since I was repeating the party theme, I didn't have to plan as much for favors and decorations, so I spent more time on the food:

From left to right:  Fruity Booty (watermelon fruit ship), Pirates Planks (crackers), & Gold Doubloons (cheese cubes)

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My greatest accomplishment, however, was the cake.  Trey told me he wanted a sea serpent.  I was like, "how in the world am I going to do that!?"  For those of you who really don't know me, I am not crafty at all.  I have pretty good ideas, but those ideas do not translate into reality well at all--if I'm the one doing the translating, that is.  So I fretted and fretted over that stinking cake until it finally clicked:

I made two bundt cakes, one chocolate and one yellow.  I then cut each cake in half and alternated each semi-circle to create the serpent. 

I then iced the cake with a white frosting and sprayed it with a green spray "paint" for cakes.  I finished it off with craft google eyes (non-edible) and thin chocolate wafer cookies for the fins and spines.

I was so happy with the finished product; I could have punched someone!

And the treasure hunt was much easier this year because of one simple fact:  the party guests could read!  So I had clues hidden all around the yard with key pirate figures (Tick Tock Crock, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, etc.) pointing to the next clue, leading to the treasure chest--filled with candy, gold doubloons, and pirate booty--guarded by the sea monster.  Of course the hunt was mass hysteria, and hours of clever clue writing paid off in just a matter of minutes, but it was the perfect way to close out the party.

The second is a paid adventure I found during our annual trip to Myrtle Beach, SC--Pirate Adventures.  Everything I read about this online and in brochures sounded really awesome, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

It starts out by dressing your child like a pirate, including face paint and being assigned a pirate name. 

James David, Trey, & Jacob ready to get their pirate on!

Then you get on a boat that looks like a real pirate boat and sail out into a harbor.  In pirate lingo, rules are discussed, and then the mission is given--to find the hidden treasure.

 

While sailing around the harbor, 

the pirates are given various tasks,

such as looking through the telescope, looking at the map, hoisting sails, etc.  At one point, the boat is attacked by a rival pirate, and the pirates have to fight him off with real water cannons attached to the side of the boat.  (I was so jealous I couldn't use the water cannon.)

Finally, they find the treasure, pulling it up from the bottom of the sea.  And each pirate gets a handful of treasure.  They then celebrate by dancing, doing the limbo, and drinking Pirate's Grog, which they pull up from the sea as well.

This is an extremely clever and creative adventure with thorough and detailed touches that make it truly memorable and one which ALL of us enjoyed. 

I guess none of us are ever too old to trade it all in for a Pirate Flag every once in a while!