Capt'n Noah's Buccaneer Bash!

Just in case any of you weren't aware- September 19Th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day! It also happens to be Noah's birthday! This year we celebrated his turning 2!- that's right; now he has a valid excuse for being terrible at times. ;) I wasn't going to throw a party for him; I'd just been planning on doing cake and ice cream, but then I remembered- this may be the last time we're around so many of our family members and friends before we head off to grad school- how could I not throw a party and have everyone come?! I started planning this event long before our vacation- since it was scheduled to take place only a day after our return from California.
Ever since I found out Noah's birth date was actually a holiday commemorating Pirates, I've wanted to throw him a pirate party and here was my chance. He's still a little too young to enjoy treasure hunts and "Pin the parrot on the Captain"- so I decided I'd use what resources were available to me to make this party happen. Just my luck, my mother-in-law manages the Orem Scera Theater- (the SCERA is a non profit charitable organization that provides affordable and appropriate entertainment to residents of Utah County.) With her approval, I arranged to show "Peter Pan's Return to Neverland" in the big theater for our guests. (Captain Hook was our special guest at the party).

I put together 22 treasure boxes for the children; each box had popcorn, Swedish fish, a ring pop,chocolate gold coins and pixie sticks in them.

I also served bottled root beer from a barrel to play on the pirate theme. (Obviously root beer is more appropriate than mugs of beer for the junior pirates who were attending the bash- besides- I'm LDS anyhow- I don't do real keggers.) For the adults, they each received a large tub of popcorn, bottled root beer, and they had their pick from the candied sweets that were hidden in Noah's treasure chest.



On the invitation I invited everyone to come dressed in their best pirate garb. Not everyone chose to dress up, but there were quite a few who did and it made the celebration even more fun. Spencer dressed up as Captain Hook. (He actually looked the part!).

Noah dressed as Smee- he had the glasses, the sandals, the red hat, everything but the long sideburns and bald head. (Sadly, I never got a good picture of Noah dressed entirely in his outfit- the little stinker wouldn't let me get a picture of him with his hat and glasses on; in fact, I didn't get any pictures of Noah, Spencer and Ian all dressed up in costume until just last night, Grandpa Campbell had to be in the picture just so Noah would sit still- this was two weeks after the party!)

Grandma Campbell sewed up a pair of blue short for Noah to wear- they looked kinda like "hot shorts" that girls this summer have been wearing, but hey, that's what Smee's shorts look like- we already had a blue and white striped shirt so we just used that.

Two months ago, Noah would have looked perfect in his little shirt because his belly used to be so big all of his shirts would creep up over it- but lately he's been thining out, so his belly didn't poke out like I wanted it to. Oh well... Ian dressed up as Tootles (the lost boy who's dressed as a Skunk).

Spencer's mom dressed up as Tinker Bell- my one year niece Bella also dressed up as TinkerBell. So cute!

Grandpa Campbell dressed as an Indian- Aunt Laura was dressed as a Bar Maid-

I wore my best pirate garb. My sister Tricia dressed all 7 of her kids up as pirates, skeletons, and pirate wives. (My nephew Eli even had a tattoo painted onto his bare chest!).

We watched the movie, and then afterwards we cut and ate the cake.

I think Noah had a good time- although, he was terrified of Spencer dressed as Hook!

Spencer really was a good sport about dressing up. Noah screamed and cried while we tried to blow the candles out on his cake.


I hope that doesn't happen 10 years from now. I don't blame him for crying when we he was by his birthday candles- I'm terrified of fire too! (Note: If you wish to throw a Captain Hook/Peter Pan birthday party as I did, it's impossible to find a Peter Pan cake anywhere- the figurines aren't sold anywhere anylonger!). I wish I had more of a chance to chat with everyone who came, but alas- all good things must come to an end- Noah was pooped, I was sick and exhausted, and the party was over. Another year and I'll be scrambling for party ideas again!