Happy Birthday Charlie!

Last week was Charlie's 6th birthday! Isn't that one cute birthday boy up there? We celebrated the day with an awesome pirate themed party. It was extra special because we had some guests in from a neighboring country who were able to attend the party.

The pirate party began with decorating and naming your very own pirate. We had 'One eyed Lui', 'Captain Charlie', 'One eyed Jon', 'Captain Cucumber', 'Redbeard' and a couple others. After decoration time was over, we read one of Charlie's favorite books, 'Pirate School'. When 'Pirate School' was over, our guests attended the 'Spears Pirate School'. We enjoyed learning about how pirates work and live by playing 'swab the deck' (a relay race with ping pong balls and a broom) and pin the patch on the pirate. After that we made our pirate weapons - pirate ship catapults. Finally, what kind of pirate party would it be if there was no treasure hunt? So, the kids got into three groups and hid their special treasure. Then each group drew their own treasure map to their special treasure. Then we exchanged maps and hunted for treasure. Fun, fun day!

We ended up the evening with Jonathan grilling us some DELICIOUS shish kebabs, and I used the last of my stash of Duncan Hines cake mixes to make the cakes. What is it about overly processed food from a box that makes it so moist and delicious?

I'm still having a difficult time grasping the fact that my youngest child (to date) is SIX YEARS OLD and almost done with kindergarten. Whew, time flies!