A couple of months back a neighbor knocked at our door and when I answered she excitedly came in carrying a big treasure chest. She said she had gotten it from work and was wondering if the boys would like it. It was a chest full of pirate party fixins. Would the boys like it?? Abso-flippin'-lutely!
We've read Peter Pan probably 4 or 5 times since Christmas (the chapter book, not the quick little Disney version). Both boys run around the house claiming to be either Peter or Captain Hook. This little treasure chest was right up our alley.
I put it away and saved it for Ajay's party. It was full of pennants and flags and it even came with two games to play. We asked the children invited to come dressed as pirates to heighten the fun-factor.
As Mother Nature would have it, Saturday was probably the hottest day of the year so far. Everything was planned for an outside party. We ended up trying to split the activities between the heat of the day and the cool of the air conditioned house.
Now I don't know why, but for the second time in the history of Ajay's birthday cakes, I made a cake with a cool-whip based frosting. (Remind me in the future never to do this again) I had ended up working on the cake as the final party item. Ajay wanted lemon cake with pirate decorations. I made the cake and was going to ice it but was running out of time. Luckily, my mom came to my rescue (again). She worked on the cake as I started getting ready for our guests. She iced the bottom layer, then together we plunked the (bigger) second layer on top. We put it into the fridge to help cool it the last little bit so the icing wouldn't melt off. About 5 minutes later I heard my mom let out a loud "Ack! Kalinda!!" I came in and saw this look of laughable horror on her face. I followed her gaze into the fridge and saw the cake - the whole top layer had split into three pieces and slid down - but not off! I quickly said - "Okay. Alright. This is fine. Ajay's pirate ship is just shipwrecked. This will work." to which my mother started laughing - the way we put it in our family, she got "tickled." We worked to piece it back together and even used some toothpicks to keep it from falling completely apart. Mom and my sister, Shelly, worked to get the pirate ship constructed while I greeted guests. I think it turned out quite well for what they had to work with!!
Before the cake incident, Biju and I took some time getting the exterior of the house into ship-shape. I never did get the chance to walk around and take photos, but Mom snapped some (before I put her to work in the kitchen!).
Here is Cap'n Ajay and a few of his motley crew - left to right, Skyler from Pre-k, Zander (Skyler's brother), Alex from First Things First (the 3yo pre-k a couple years ago) and the birthday boy.
Second-Mate Alex in the Crow's Nest:
The first game was pin the flag on the map.
The second game was ring toss on an inflatable pirate ship. (Inside, to cool off!)
Then it was back outside for a dinner of grilled hot dogs, chips and fruit (with plenty to drink). Ajay opened gifts while the kiddos either watched or played around in the yard some more. The sand table was a popular site. And with the sweaty, sticky kids, you can guess it made quite the mess!
Ajay loves his guitar (and the rest of his gifts) - we just wish the guitar would stay in tune a bit better!!
Since a few of the kids were covered in sand my brother, Jeff, hosed them off. Logan, Jeff's 22 month old son, was stripped entirely of his clothes before the hose was turned on. He thought that was fun. Isn't he adorable??
Some of our guests had to leave before we served cake, so we snatched a quick picture of all the kids present. Out of all the photos I took, this was the best. (Hey, you try getting 10 children aged 7 and under to pose for a photo!)
So who do we have? In the front row, we have Little Alex, Cousin Logan, and Big Alex holding his younger brother, Rylan (who just turned one on Monday!!). In the second row, left to right, there is Skyler, Zander, Ajay, Cousin Lenley and Cousin Kyeligh. In the back, we have Cousin Paige. What a bunch of goofballs!
After we said good-bye to Skyler and his family, we went back inside to cool off and do the cake thing.
I think Ajay and his friends enjoyed themselves. I know my guys were exhausted at the end of the day!!
Oh, and of course it wouldn't be a family gathering without getting a shot of Alex and Logan standing back to back. There are 6.5 months between these two.
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