End-Of-Summer Party

We had our End-Of-Summer party on Wednesday. There was a small group of kids - my three plus 4 others - and I was lucky enough to have 2 other moms helping me!

I don't have the best photos, since I was the MC, the head chef and general Leader of the Fun, so I had little time to snap photos. But you can get a general idea of the beautiful day we had!

As our guests arrived, we handed out eyepatches and earrings (4 set for $1 at Walmart!). We started with a treasure hunt. I hid clues all over the yard, and the end result was a treasure chest (borrowed from Ryan's bedroom) filled with treasure (organza bags from the wedding section of the craft store filled with those colorful glass "gems"). There was one bag for each child - so no fighting over their booty! This was my favorite activity of the day - the kids worked together so nicely! The older kids who could read took turns reading clues and they all worked together to find the treasure (which was hiding under our tomatoes!).

We then spent some time doing pirate crafts. I had pirate suncatchers, little foam pirate ships and blank notebooks they were able to decorate with markers. I purchased all of these things for about $5 from the clearance aisle at Michael's.

Our last game was Pin The Patch on the Pirate. I simply drew a pirate on a piece of posterboard and made eyepatches from black construction paper. We used a bandana to cover their eyes. All of the kids got to choose a prize, so everyone was very happy!

We had a nice lunch consisting of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, yogurt, cheese & crackers, fruit, carrots & dip, Sun Chips and drinks. The grown ups had yummy chicken salad in whole wheat pitas.

Our afternoon ended with some water-fun. The kids did a Cannon Ball Toss (with water ballons) and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing in a tiny pool, the water table or in the sandbox.

Out guests all went home with pirate goody bags that held more pirate treasures (a Ring Pop, candy necklaces, pirate pencils and a few pirate gold coins).

Oh - Maddie and her best friend Madison asked if they could do a short play for us while we ate. So we were all treated to their short pirate drama - complete with a sword fight!