Pirate Party - Part 2

On to Part 2 of the Birthday Recap, which itself is part of the "Catch up the Blog ASAP" series!  This post features the outfits worn on party day and the activities the little people and adults enjoyed.

First up, Outfit #1.  This adorable Pirate Shortall was Nate's first outfit of the day.  I couldn't get a great pic of him in it b/c he was either crawling away, eating, squirming or being inundated with all of the people!  Funny enough, I'd already purchased the shortall long before I decided on his party theme from Zulily--I believe it was from Ragsland.  It was the perfect outfit for Nate to greet his buddies.

Next, mommy's and daddy's outfits!  I ordered us tee shirts from Zazzle to wear.  Mine says "I heart Pirates" and Michael's says "pirate" with an arrow pointing up, and has a skull and cross bones on the back.  Perfect partyware.

Accessories make any outfit.

Mommy and Buggy!
Acute pirate frame I made with Nate's invitation in it is in the background.

Family Pic.  Notice the poms in the background I made that didn't get pictured in the decor post.

Outfit #2.  This was Nate's cake smash outfit.  Before cake time, we changed him out of his "nice outfit" and into his cute and cake friendly outfit.  I bought this tee and matching hat from an etsy seller.  I was so happy with the outfit, even if Nate refused to keep the hat on for more than 1 pic.

Outfit #3.  Not technically a birthday party outfit, but this is an outfit I put him in for his 1st Birthday photo shoot.  It was too cute not to share.  His name is on the booty of the diaper cover.  Again, this was an etsy purchase!

So big!!
You can see some of the poms and the printables I used to decorate in the background.

Finally, Outfit #4.  I found some cute "pirate themed" swimming trunks at the beginning of the summer and we put them on our little guy when it was time for some water activities!

So cute.

I created several different things for the kiddos to do at the party.  Each activity was a stop on the treasure map.  I love having a plan and something structured--this way, the parents and kiddos have fun and don't get bored!

First stop, Dig for Buried Treasure.  We filled Nate's sandboat with sand, and then I scattered small toys and trinkets I purchased from Oriental Trading, along with a few shovels.  The kiddos had an absolute blast digging for their treasure.

Ready for action!

E picking out some treasure.

M captaining the boat.

Treasure!

Nate getting in on the treasure hunt.

He loved the sand.

Squishing it.

Throwing it.

Repeat.

The next activity we had available was decorating a pirate picture frame.  The kids were totally uninterested in this one.  Oh well!  This art project came in a big pack from Oriental Trading and was inexpensive, so not too much was lost.

A big hit was the Jolly Roger Tattoo Parlor.  There were awesome pirate tattoos to choose from.  I think every kiddo got a tattoo!

Nate and his ink.

Sweet S and her tattoo.

Inside, kiddos could take a break from the heat, eat a snack and enjoy a pirate book or two!

The most enjoyed activity, water fun!  We had a pirate water table, baby pool and a crazy sprinkler set up.  On a hot August day, these were necessities and so much fun!

M looking at a boat.

G checking out the water table.

Sweet C!

Cutie G!

Cute kiddos!

So fun.

Sweet smiles.

Totally worth it!

Crazy, fun sprinkler!

Nate couldn't get enough.

Absolutely no fear.

Sprinkler in the face.  NBD.

M & S taking a dip in the pool.

Next up, its time for cake!

First Day of "School"

Nate started "school" this year--I mean, he's so advanced, we wanted to capitalize on the learning.  Every 1 year old should be in school.  Ha, ha...I'm totally kidding, so please don't peg me as a crazy pageant-type mom just yet.

Nate's school is at our church, which does have a great program that is always pretty popular.  It fills up every year, so we are glad we got in and can take advantage of it!  It's basically a mothers day out type program in terms of how it is set up.  This year, he is in the infant class and goes 1 day a week from 9am-2pm.  Amy, our nanny, uses this time to run errands for us, get her own appointments and stuff done, etc.  It has been great for everyone!  Nate loves it.  His teachers are very nice, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the art he brings home every week!

Here is our little "genius" on his first day of school.

Teacher gifts I whipped together.  I found some free printables online -- it says "With you as my teacher, I'll be one smart cookie".  I cut them out and tied them around some packages of cookies we randomly had left over from a Junior League project.  I thought they turned out cute, especially for a totally last minute thing!

Crawling to get the camera.

Much more interested in mom's necklace!

Goofy boy.  I love his pointed toes--takes after his momma with a natural point to his feet.

Cutie.

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas this year was so much more exciting than it has been in years past!  Having a little one, just makes everything better when seeing it through their eyes.  I wanted to make everything "special" and start some of our own traditions, and Michael willingly tagged along.

Reading the Night Before Christmas that GB and Abuelo got for Nate.

 One tradition we started: the Trains at Northpark.  

Added plus, the exhibit benefits Ronald McDonald House of Dallas!

Nate was old enough this year to appreciate the coolness of this annual exhibit!  And, we had a ton of fun taking him.  We went the day before Christmas Eve, so things were crazy busy!  The line was super long and I didn't think we'd be able to see the trains...there was no way we could handle close to a 2 hour wait.  So, we decided to grab an early lunch instead.  On our way out, I suggested walking back by the exhibit just to see how things were, and surprisingly, the line was so much shorter.  We only waited about 20 minutes to get in.

Waiting in line.

 

Nate loved the trains, and was just mesmerized watching them go around the track.

He loved the little windows that were low to the ground...perfect size for him to check out the scenes on display!

It was fun to see the D.C. model since it hadn't been too long since we were there.

The model of Dallas was really cool!

A picture of Michael's hospital and my office building in the same shot.

On Christmas Eve, we took Nate to the family worship service, which was great.  It was short, but a really sweet service.  And the sanctuary was full of families with young kids, so we didn't have to worry about Nate making any noise!

After church, we came home and opened one gift.  This is another tradition we will do each year.

Nate liked helping.

 

 

Michael was slightly embarrassed when he realized the cool gift wasn't just PJs for Nate, but the entire family!

 

After we opened the gift, we read the Night Before Christmas one last time before heading to bed in anticipation of Santa Clause!