ARRGH! My baby is 4!

Carson turned 4 this month and we celebrated it with a bang!

My mother in love and I had our hearts set on a circus party theme.  We had it all planned out; a big tent in the yard, live animals, clowns, etc.

But, Carson had a different plan.

He wanted nothing to do with the circus. 

He wanted a pirate party.

And he was serious about it.

Sooo, considering that it was really about us him, we decided to let me him his way {aren't we sweet?!}

And so we started planning his pirate party.

He was in heaven!

My in laws agreed to host the party.  Our little cozy home wouldn't have been able to handle all that we had planned for Carson on his special day.  I am so so so thankful for their offer!!

This was what greeted the kids as they came in.  I must say that the boys were totally into the pirate theme while some of the girls were a little apprehensive.  But, after playing for a little while I saw several little princesses sneak back to this table to grab an eye patch and a tattoo!

 

My MIL made these cookies for the kids.  Precious, right??

I ordered the invitation and party printables from the sweetest girl that I met through Etsy.  She has done work for me on many many occassions and she is incredible! (her business is called Pinkadot Shop)

Now let me pause right here for a second and preface this next picture.  My father-in-law is an amazing man.  He loves Jesus, loves his family, and serves others continually.  When he heard that Carson was having a Pirate party, he knew just what he wanted to give him.  

A pirate ship.

A real one.

And he was going to build it,

He took the entire week of spring break and built his grandson a pirate ship.

From scratch.

No plans or designs.

That's talent, right?

And pure love for a grandson.

Take a look.

No detail was left out.  The ship was complete with a sail {made by my MIL}, cannons, a ramp, captain's quarter, an upper deck, a steering wheel that turned, a parrot that talked.  

And of course, Carson's name was carved on it.

I mean, the whole 9 yards.

It was incredible.

We were in complete awe when we saw it.  Carson pretty much lived in it all day.  And it was so well built that it withstood the wear and tear from many many toddlers!

More on the ship in a second, here are the details of the party that my MIL and I worked on {much less impressive, I know!}

Before the party started, we tried to get a good family picture.

Impossible.

And so my parents thought they would give it a try.

Again, impossible.

My in laws hopped in the boat and though they'd try too.

And guess what??

It worked for them!!

Granted, Carleigh is swabbing the deck, but other than that, it's a pretty good picture!

I'd say it's the least my kids could do for Pa after he built the ship, right??

But it didn't last for long...they were off again...

Carson was d.o.n.e. with pictures, but I convinced him to pose for one more with my grandmother.

Then, she took him inside to get ready to greet his friends!

We had the best time watching Carson with this talking parrot.  Every time he'd say something the dern thing would repeat it.  And he would get mad and yell at it.  And it would repeat it again.  

Hysterical.

Ok, maybe you just had to be there.

The grandpa's with the granddaughter's.  They weren't too much into all the pirate happenings.

Carson, on the other hand, was in heaven.

One thing that we really wanted to do, was to find Captain Jack Sparrow and have him come to the party.  Well don't you know, there is one here!  We didn't tell Carson that he and Will Turner were coming to the party.  Maybe we should have warned him, because the poor little boy was completely star struck!

See?  Star struck.

The kids all sat down and the pirates inducted them into their crew and taught them how to talk like a pirate.

They passed out balloon parrots and swords, this was a huge hit with the kids!

They also gathered all the kids and had a sword dual!  The boys loved it.  The girls were a little apprehensive.

Carleigh's face here cracks me up!!

After the sword fight, the pirates lead the kids on a treasure hunt!

And they found the treasure!!!

Little Miss Cami was unsure about all this commotion!

{this is Mike holding her.  Mike is married to our nanny, Emily.  You know, the one I couldn't survive without? Yeah, I should probably mention that she worked REALLY hard on this party too!!}

After all the hunting, it was time for a pirate lunch!!

Then, the pirates posed for pictures with all the kids. {including some of the big kids!}

Before the pirates left, Carson got a few special treats from Will Turner!

The kids played outside while the mommies and daddies had lunch inside!

Finally it was time for cake!

Carson picked out his candles.

And he did NOT want anyone to sing "happy birthday" to him.

So, we counted to three and then all yelled ARRGH!

And he blew out his 4 pirate candles.

And just like that, I have a 4 year old.

Wow.

What a great day it was celebrating such a sweet, creative, imaginative, hilarious little boy.

Carson, we love you so very much.

You are our favorite son!