A Pirate says Aaarrrgh

Happy 4th Birthday Ashby

While we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids defended their pirate ship by popping bubbles with their pirate hooks.

Ahoy there mateys! Welcome to this party!

We’re here to have fun, avast there me hearties.

We’ll be following clues, ‘cause we don’t have a map,

And when we find treasure, you might yell and clap!

We’re hunting for seashells and patches and hooks,

Fish, gems and feathers, and gold – like in books.

And then, after ice cream, which we like a lot,

We’ll find one last treasure where X marks the spot.

Brian made a terrific pirate with a great growly voice. He read all the clues between activities. And a special thanks to Brian and our friend Emily for their clever pirate poetry to get these clues written.

1

Here’s the first clue, of the thing ye should find

An island you’ll see, it’s the round kind

Ye’ll be winning a seashell if ye get through the loop

Come along little sea dogs, and look for a hoop.

For completing the island hopping activity and not falling into the ocean, the kids collected sea shells an put them in their goody bags.

After each activity the kids had to search around the area to find a rolled up scroll with the next clue.

2

Shiver me timbers! Ye made it off the island!

The next clue is harder, as you’ll be a blinded.

Look for a hideout around on the side

But don’t be afraid of the one

who has died.

This is a flag I made for pin the skull on the jolly roger. I was pleased with how it turned out, since I'm not the most creative. The prize at the end of this game was their very own pirate eye patch.

3

This next clue is fishy, but you’ll get the motion,

Open your eyes, and search for blue ocean.

The reward for this challenge is

top of the rank,

But to get what you came for,

You’re walk’n the plank!

Swedish fish was the prize at this station.

4

Out yonder be jewels and beautiful gold

All for the taking, like stories of old.

Search deep in the depths of the underground cave

But watch out for snakes and don’t be afraid.

After crawling through the tunnel entrance, the kids searched in the grass for jewels and gold coins to collect in their baggies.

5

Look lively, someone is shooting our ship

With cannonballs! Careful now,

don’t slip or trip!

But hurry and look for a big bouncy thing

With feathers upon it – it’s made for jumping.

We threw soft padded balls at the kids while they jumped on the tramp. The tramp was covered in colorful feathers because we told them that one of the cannonballs killed their pirate parrot. They collected the feathers for their goody bags.

6

Even pirates have tummies that grumble

So abandon ship! (but be sure not to tumble)

Follow your nose to a place full of yummies,

And if you say please, you can fill up your tummies!

This is the cake I made from an idea in Family Fun magazine. The directions told me to use decorator icing for the details. I was excited to try something new and feel professional. Well as you can see below, the icing did not work at all? Any clue why? I don't know, so on the other (less pretty side) of the cake, I used normal frosting. So much easier. Wish they had told me to do it that way from the beginning.

After cake and ice cream and opening presents, Brian gave the last pirate clue...

Next is the thing that gives all pirates pleasure

A chest full of goodies we pirates call treasure.

Sometimes we hide it in ships that are wrecks,

But this time, to find it, just look for the X.

I'd like to thank Dollar Tree for the success of this pirate party. I was very impressed with their selection of pirate bounty. It was fun to put the goody baskets together and I hope the kids liked them. It was really a fun party and we ended right on time.