Happy 6th Birthday To My Sweet Eli

This is late in coming because we were gallivanting at the beach on Eli's birthday, but better late than never. This year we promised Eli a friend birthday party. He wanted it to be all about pirates and treasure, so that's what we did. We had Eli's friends come to the park where we played games and of course went on a big treasure hunt. There was a little boy at the park from a nearby house that showed all the kids where the treasure was hidden before the hunt even started, but we didn't let that put a damper on our adventure. Luckily I was smart enough to cover the treasure box with a blanket, so nobody knew what was inside. I was a little miffed at the boy, but what do you do? Before the hunt began all the kids got to figure out a good pirate name to use for the day. Most voted to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but there was a Captain Black, Evil Pirate and Red Handed Susan in the mix too. After 8 clues were read the kids ended up in the "haunted forest" to claim their treasure. Dollar store pirate sets for the boys and gaudy jewel rings and necklaces for the girls, as well as fake coins, candy and mini skulls. At the end everybody got to decorate their own cupcake complete with a pirate topper. Eli was very happy with his party. The next afternoon (Wed.) we took off to the coast to spend a long weekend with the Gold family. Thursday, August 28th, was Eli's actual birthday, so we celebrated again that evening with the Gold clan. Eli is now set with plenty of toys to last FOREVER and a family that still adores him. On the way home from the beach we even stopped at the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see all the airplanes. What more could a little boy want? Happy birthday my cute little man!