March 1, 2005
Saturday was Laurent's 4th birthday and we celebrated in style with a pirate themed birthday party. Earlier this month I sent out invitations "Ahoy Mates! Brave the high seas and join Captain Laurent to celebrate..." complete with a treasure map.
Laurent wanted a boy party so the party was fairly small, seeing as he has a just a few boy friends. Our neighbors, Adam and David (brothers) and friend Caleb - who traveled one hour to come as his family recently moved - were mates for the party. Celine and Brienne participated of course too. Celine told me afterward "I didn't expect to have fun (seeing as no girls were coming) but I did!"
As the guests arrived Daddy made balloon swords using a kit the kids recieved for a birthday or Christmas gift one year. The kids were given bandanas, which doubled as loot bags on the way home, and black eye patches. The first activity was a toothpick hunt. Before the party I hid 6 colored toothpicks for each child to find. They then traded in the toothpicks for chocolate coin candy (booty). After the toothpick hunt the kids had a treasure hunt. Firstly, they had to find the pieces of the map, hidden in the kids room. Then they had to piece together the 6 sections, like a puzzle. I had drawn a map of our house (X marking the treasure) and "aged" the map by burning the edges. With the map completed they tried to figure out where the treasure was buried. After a few unsuccessful searches under the bunkbeds, the treasure was found under our bed. The treasure was a bin full of markers, crayons, play money, real pennies, lengths of gold and pearl beads. You'd think the kids had found the holy grail! Kids just love treasure hunts.
Of course we had to have cake and ice cream - our birthday indulgence. The cake was a pirate island complete with a treasure chest and sesame street pirate figurine (bath toys). Then Laurent opened his presents - balls, a foam covered bat, some plastic snakes and a magazine subscription. Great gifts for a great guy.
Laurent had a great time, the girls had fun, the guests had a fun time and mommy and daddy even had fun - a great party all around.
[http://renee.tougas.net/tiki-browse_gallery.php?galleryId=34|Photos here]
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