David's 4th Birthday

Ahoy Matey! Our little boy has turned 4! We had such a wonderful time celebrating his birthday on Sunday afternoon. David was so excited about it for days ahead and then was still talking about it on Monday night before bedtime. It makes Greg & me so happy to know that we made his birthday a memorable one. We couldn't have done it without our friends who helped us in so many ways. David had 5 friends at the party and it was a full house...or should I say pirate ship?When the kids arrived, they got busy making their pirate flags - each with their own initial. Next was pirate dress up time so they could look for their treasure -- X marks the spot on the treasure map (aka, pin the tail on the donkey).

I was a little surprised by how hesitant the kids were to dress up - so a few just carried home their pirate bandannas, earrings, and eye patches.

David's good buddy Tommy took about 5 minutes (no exaggeration) feeling the treasure map and deciding on a spot to put his treasure. I must say I was very impressed with Harrison. He is the youngest of David's friends, and thoroughly enjoyed the games and got into the pirate spirit. It was fun!

Of course, none of them hesitated about using the inflatable swords that we had for everyone. Pirate swords + happy boys = backyard craziness. Did you know that real pirates belly-bump each other like football players?

After running around and walking the plank (aka, balance beam) for a while, Greg lined up the kids and established rules for the pinata. Rules are important when 3 & 4 yr old kids are given a metal baseball bat! We did not blindfold them. That would have been like begging to be put on America's Funniest Videos and we really didn't want that. After about 3 rounds, Rachel finally landed the blow that made the pirate's body fall from his head.
The kids grabbed their bags and instantly hovered the ground getting gold coins and candy. Well, all of them except Harrison who thought the candy would fall out of the pirate's hanging head! Too cute!!As you can imagine, pirates work up an appetite. Next was cake and ice cream.

Ahh - it was good. I wouldn't normally be surprised, except for this year I actually let David pick the flavors while standing in the baking aisle at the grocery store. He selected white and chocolate chip fudge. We had 2 layers of white and one chocolate chip fudge. The ship was frosted with milk chocolate icing and I made my traditional butter cream frosting for the ocean. Gummy fish in the ocean, Rolos for the cannon holes on ship's sides, Whoppers for cannonballs, and chocolate-covered pretzels for the ship's railing. All delicious. Most importantly, David loved it. After stuffing ourselves with pirate punch and cake, David opened presents. Since it was such a beautiful fall day, we did this out on the deck. David's friends were so generous and kind -watching and helping him open their gifts. Thank you for making David's birthday terrific!