Still being 'new' to Canton, Ohio, we didn't realize that there are LOTS and LOTS of activities the first week of August for the NFL Hall of Fame. As much as we enjoyed the hot air balloons flying directly over our house, this didn't affect us too much until Ben's party on Saturday morning which coincided with the massive parade that is held each year. Oops! However, a few sweet friends left the parade early to still make the party. We started the morning with having the kids get into character. (A friend *with a tiny bit of help from me* made pirate pants for all the kids.) Then we went from most basic pirate jobs to the really good ones throughout the morning. First, we played Sharks and Minnows, just in case they get thrown overboard. Next was Swabbing the Deck as pictured below.
Then they had to avoid having Cannonballs explode on them. This was a very hesitant game at the beginning. (Notice the hot Pirate Captain, complete with machetes strapped to his side. When I needed the kids' attention, he would hit his 2 swords together.)
The girls were a bit more hesitant to play. Annie with her little friend Mia. Then we played again with boys and girls together. They next had target practice. Andy pushed them on the swing in the front and they aimed bean bags at a bucket to knock it over.
Tragedy stuck, so they all had to work together to Bail Out the Boat! I imagined this as the kids running across the yard carrying cups of water, but Andy imagined an assembly line. It worked out better this way and the kids had fun cheering each other on.
Here's the cute pirate cake that was Ben's vision. He gave me all the people he wanted on the cake. I thought it turned out really cute since Andy and I started decorating at midnight. The water is coconut and the sand is crushed graham crackers. My favorite part is the monkey in the tree that stole the gold!
My cute and happy pirate. Seriously, the smiles on this boy's face made all the work completely worth it!
Our family with a stowaway!
Opening presents...
Ohhh, one more challenge for this pirate-wanna-be. A CLUE! We did a 10-clue treasure hunt, with each clue having a child's name on it so they all had a turn to read. Emily started. (And look at cute Benny's face!) I was completely enthralled watching the kids read, solve, and run and got ZERO pictures of this part. However, they did find the treasure.
We ended (late) with a mock cannonball fight that didn't turn out how I anticipated because time just ran out! We quickly crumbled up newspapers and threw them at each other. Alas, party over, happy child, tired mommy, and dinner in the crock pot. It was a good day!
Annie and her buddy Carter looking for shells.
The kids were all enthralled with the amount of fish in the lake. They were also extremely disappointed with how quickly the fish could swim! Ben and Annie moving s.l.o.w.l.y. through the water.
Aha! A friend brought some nets and shared with Ben! Now, he can really catch some fish!
This little trio was so funny to watch. Kramer is 11 (and one of my primary kiddos!) and super sweet. Ben followed him around hoping to get some good fish-catching in. Jensen is 3 1/2 and likes to do what Ben is doing. So we had Ben following Kramer and Jensen following Ben for a good hour as they searched so diligently for fish!
There was also a huge playground the girls played on. Aughhh! I thought I had added one more picture (nope, not of Ben with his prize fish because those fish are super smart!) of these three little girls crawling on their hands and knees trying to sneak up on a butterfly. Three CUTE sandy bums!
Was a really fun morning! One more week until school starts and lazy playdays are a thing of the past!!!
