Can you believe that Katrine turns three tomorrow? Time has passed but she is ready to be three. Other than her birthday party this past Sunday, the most exciting thing about turning three is that you get to eat gum! I am not sure where we came up with that arbitrary rule but we did. So, as of tomorrow she can chew gum.
On Sunday we played host to 10 of Katrine’s friends and their respective parents. We decided to go with a pirate theme because there is a lot of fun things that you can do with pirates. We created “The Purple Pirate Tattoo Parlour” in the kitchen which was a big hit. I mean, every true pirate has a tattoo right? Katrine loves to show off her smiley face tattoo. That was about as piratey as she got. No wait, she briefly wore her hat. Some of the other guests came all decked out in lovely pirate costumes with hooks and swords but the most we could convince her to wear in terms of a costume was a white t-shirt, the hat and her tattoo. Oh well. Glenn made lovely paper hats for the two of us, so we were somewhat dressed up.
We set up a “Beanbag Booty” toss and “Pin the Pirate on the Island” games in the hallway. Both gained in popularity as the party wore on and the kids loosened up. The craft table was a pretty big hit. At least half of the guests sat down to glue and colour. That surprised me as they are a pretty active bunch and I thought that it would have been more chaotic. By far the most popular planned activity was the Treasure Hunt. Katrine’s cousin Dalia and I hide 48 little plastic eggs full of pirate booty around the main floor. Once the hunt started the kids let loose and were running here and there grabbing eggs and putting them in the communal treasure chest (I give a friend credit for suggesting that this might help avoid crying. As we told the kids, good pirates share their treasure). The most popular unplanned activity? The dress-up box and play kitchen. Our family room was full of kids serving food and trying on costumes. At one point and time, we actually had a pirate-princess-viking outfit created.
I have to say that I am quite proud of her cake. I give Glenn credit with suggesting I do something with cupcakes instead of cake because it would mean less work on party day. When I saw the Fisher Price pirate ship on a trip to Toys R Us one day, it was inspiration and I knew how it would all come together. The cupcakes provided the kids with just enough icing to lick off and an easily disposed of mound of cake residue. Katrine practically beamed when Glenn carried the cake to her.
I have to boast about how well she did having everyone over at our place playing with her toys. Aside from grabbing back her Sherman the Worman (she named him after the Backyardigans character) one time, she shared really well. Took it in stride more or less. She even greeted each guest at the door and handed them their craft project (Glenn folded a hat for each guest and I made each a toilet-roll telescope) before running off to something else. Then when they were leaving she handed each their loot bag and said “thank you for coming to my party. Happy birthday!”. It was pretty surprising.