Argh! A Buckaneer Bash for Tanner!

Tanner really wanted a Pirate Party for his 5th birthday this year. We had so much fun with it. I sent out Message in a Bottle invites......

We decorated our whole patio and yard for the party. It looked pretty spiffy, but as usual, my poor photography skills don't do it justice!

The Captains Quarters- the table is has gold coins, jewels and a silver hook.....

A Seascape with a treasure chest.....

All the kiddos were dressed up like pirates with an eye patch, bandana, sword, sash, treasure pouch, and tattoo......

The Galley (I had to post this picture because it shows one of the two pirate flags I made, I'm not an artist, so I was quite proud of how they turned out!)....

I made card labels for all the snacks: SeaChips (blue corn tortilla chips) Seaweed Dip (guacamole) Sea Knots (pretzels) Shark Bait (Goldfish) Minnows (Swedish Fish) Gold Nuggets (cheese cubes) Tasty Treasure (Rolos) Cannonballs (Whoppers) and bottles of cold Grape Crush to drink.

To prove that they had what it takes to become a true pirate they had to pass a series of Pirate Tests.

Our canoe became The Red Dragon. The most feard pirate ship around.

The kids threw cannon balls (water balloons) at the other enemy ships.

As a reward for their bravery and valor they got to dig for jewels in the creepy Pirate Graveyard.......

Then they had to show their mettle by Walking the Plank. Afterwards they got to look for gold coins in The Swamp (a big tub filled with water and slimey wet raffia).....

Their pouches were getting filled with treasure, but pirates are notoriously greedy and they wanted more so they had to do a 3rd test. They had to show that they could "bail" water, by filling up a cup with water, walking up the ladder and sliding down the slide without spilling it. The rewards was another hunt for gold dabloons.

We then feasted on a pirate ship cake .....

Their last activity was following a picture Treasure Hunt that led them all through the yard and to the chest filled with the greatest treasure of all....their party favor bags.

Everything went great and I think the kids had a fantastic time. We ended up getting rained out the last few minutes, but overall it was a great party!My little buckaneer.......