The Princess Pirate Themed Party

Many, many years ago when I was a young one, I told myself that if I ever had children, we would celebrate their birthdays around a theme. Not just matching plates and napkins, but a full on theme with props, piñatas, and dressing up. When I was pregnant with the Sugarbean, I began planning her first birthday. It was everything and more for what I wanted for her. Thus began the birthday adventures. (and if you know me well enough, well, you know birthdays are the cat's me-wow around here!)

This past summer, when she and I were talking, I asked her what she wanted her theme to be. She usually picks her birthdays around whatever movie she is watching. I was fully anticipating a Despicable Me mixed with Megamind birthday, but no, she surprised me. She wanted to dress as a princess and requested Daddy to dress as a pirate. Princess Pirate Party it was! (hooray for alliteration!) He makes for a menacing looking pirate, huh?

I must mention that even though we’d long since had the theme, the time just got away from me and I didn’t get to put as much effort into the details as I had wanted to. Fortunately for me, our friends and family come to celebrate our Sugarbean instead of hoping to be wowed or blown away. I’m so grateful for their presence above everything else. Oh, and I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I had hoped, but I snagged a few and thanks to our dear friend Hayley for sharing hers. (hi Hayley!) Here I am in action and you can barely see my outfit. Thrown together as guests began to arrive. Look at my little one work her pose. Hysterical! Oh, and those boots are from Livie and Luca. Super great, check ‘em out!

On to the party!
First of all, it was RIDICULOUSLY cold. Shocker, right? Cold in February, who knew? ha ha. Well, it was a shock for us. We’d been experiencing weather in the mid-70s and on her party day, it had gotten down to the high 40s, low 50s. That didn’t seem to affect the kiddos one bit. They had a whole lot of fun bouncing on the bounce house and whacking away at the piñata. Guests left with a pirate hat and/or a tutu.

This year, we requested guests bring a homemade card. She received many, many delightful cards, as well as gifts. She was really excited by the $4 in birthday money she received from many. I think she was more excited about being able to count out the $4, then handing off the money to me to tear open her next gift. ha! (We requested that if people wanted to bring cash, to please limit it to $4 that way she would be able to appreciate the age, learn to count money, and learn how to properly spend/save the money. So far, she’s more on the “I want to save my money” kick than spending it.)

As guests walked in, they were greeted by my balloon sculpture of the number 4. Use your imagination and you will be able to see it. The kiddos were given the opportunity to pop 1 balloon. If a piece of paper floated down with the word WINNER! on it, then they were able to choose a prize from the fun pile. If there was nothing, then they were gifted with a pack of Juicy Fruit gum. Everyone is a winner!

Then, there was the dining room. I regret not getting photos of the food display. We had brownies, juice boxes, 10 pizzas (hooray Sam’s club!!!), macaroni salad, borracho beans, and fruit. For the adults, there was Mexican Coke, Grey Goose, La Marca prosecco, 3 kinds of beer, and Maker’s. I found these cupcake picks at Jo-Anns and used them to decorate the brownies.

Out back, we had the castle bounce house. Our Sugarbean couldn’t seem to bounce enough! Her poor cheeks were so red from the cold, but she didn’t care. (I purposefully covered the face of the kiddo, this wasn’t an accident.)

Next up, piñata time. The story of the piñata goes like this…the birthday piñatas travel to us from Tijuana Mexico by way of San Diego. Mari’s Nina Dani travels each year from SD with the custom made piñata based on the theme of the party. Yes, folks, she uses it as her checked luggage all for the sake of her Goddaughter. So very, very special, right? See the excitement on her face?

A couple of weeks before the party, she verifies the request and she goes to meet with her guy, who makes it. This is the second year and they are awesome. After having made one for her 2nd birthday, I have a greater appreciation for the work that goes into making these things. This year we had a princess with a fancy crown and dark hair.
She was filled with all sorts of yummy and delicious goodness. We ended up using a broom handle to bust it open (hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?), because our purple plastic bat was not working.

Then it was time to sing and eat cake! Don did an amazing job at creating the perfect backdrop for her. She sat on her “throne” with the Jolly Roger behind her and a princess arch. She had two cakes because, well, I like chocolate cake, but she really wanted a tiara on her cake. We split the difference.

When we finished up the song, this moment froze in my mind. How did 4 years pass by so quickly. When did my little Sugarbean grow into a little kid? *choking up*

Happy 4th Birthday, Sugarbean!