The little love of my life had the best birthday party ever! She has been telling me for a year that she wanted a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party. Now, if you have ever tried to plan a pirate party, you will commiserate with me about how difficult it actually is. There are NO pirate party favors anywhere! I kept asking her "are you SURE you don't want a princess party?" because there were isles and isles of princess stuff but, one little row of pirate things. Had I ordered everything online, I would have been in better shape but, we just made due with what we had!
Gracie kept telling Beau and I that she couldn't wait to see her pirate ship cake...one I hadn't made yet. I'm not exactly a baker and so, I was going to just order one for her from one of the many talented cake decorators I know but, in the end, Beau and I banded together and just made it ourselves. The frosting was seriously delicious but, not the best for cake decorating. However, in the end it didn't matter because when she walked in and saw the ship cake with Jake and Skully sitting on top, she let out the loudest squeal of joy and it all ended up being worth it.
Originally I told Gracie she could invite five friends to her party. I thought, that would bring the total to seven kids including her and seven I could handle. So, when we sat down and started making invitations she just kept naming kids that she "just couldn't leave out". I am so happy my little lady is a people person. So we ended up having ten kids and it was perfect. She was just so excited every time one of her friends would knock on the door and come in.
We had the kids make their own pizzas and then, while those cooked up, we played some pirate games. Pirate Beau was in charge of the games. He gave each kid a Jake bandana and a sword and then, made them walk the plank! They loved it. Beau told them that he was looking for the traitor and whoever fell off the plank was the traitor! They all crossed with ease and then Beau took his turn. He "fell off" and they all attacked him with their swords! He was the traitor after all.
I was actually surprised at how well Evie handled all the noise, games, and attention. She take a while to warm up to ANYONE and it's a process every single day. We got her to walk the plank and she was so proud of herself when she got off on the other side. Eek she makes me smile. Look at that face. She gets embarrassed SO easy and it's adorable.
We had all the balloons scattered around the floor during the party and we told the kids that they were "cannonballs". During this game they had to keep their cannon balls in the air using only their swords!
We also played "Pin the bandana on Jake". Beau drew a Jake the Pirate head on a poster board and the kids took turns pinning the headband on him.
Food time! The kids loved making their own pizzas. Though, keeping them sorted out while we baked them ended up being quite the job.
Present time! Gracie loved sitting with her friends opening gifts. Everyone was so generous to our little lady. It is amazing to me how blessed she is to have such great friends at a young age.
I hope, as we get ready to move, that she never forgets these special kids who helped her become such a fun vibrant five year old!
We did a treasure hunt and it ended at a treasure chest pinata! The kids LOVED it! I recorded a video of the treasure hunt but, it was deleted :( Bummer.
We sent home goodie bags with chocolate gold deblumes, pixie dust, eye patches, pirate flags, and Jake fruit snacks. Then the kids had their swords, Jake headbands, and treasure from the pinata.
It was such a fun party! The kids had a blast and Gracie is STILL talking
about her Jake party.
That night, after the dust had settled, we let Gracie choose where she wanted to go to dinner. She chose Chili's so out we went. She went complete with her Jake ensemble (including the eye patch) on. The waitress we had brought out ice cream with a candle and sang to her. I thought she would die from embarrassment.
Oh our Gracie Leigh. She is our fiery, rambunctious, smart, brave, beautiful little girl. Gracie loves science and wants to be an astronaut or a paleontologist when she grows up.
When I held my little love for the first time and looking into her incredible big brown eyes, I had no idea that I was in for the ride of my life. I don't even recall life being as vibrant before she was in our lives as it is now.
Gracie helps Beau and I remember why it is we are here. To have a good life. She is a vital part of our good life.
I am so glad she is mine.
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