Captain Finn turns 7!

Wow! I can't believe my youngest is 7!  How is it that days, as you live them, often seem to take forever, but somehow the years zip by in a flash? Childhood seems so fleeting; sometimes I wish I could slow everything down - not Peter-Pan indefinitely - but just keep my wee boys little a bit longer. The days of the boys zooming through the house at 7am for a morning snuggle are numbered, so too the times when they'll want to hold my hand as we walk down the street. While there is a lot to love about watching your children grow and mature, it's still pretty hard to let your babies go...

Birthdays are always special in our house. We start with a birthday morning surprise, which is some kind of decoration I put up once they are asleep in their room or the lounge - streamers, confetti, balloons or the like. This year I hung tissue flowers in the birthday boy's bunk. I also always decorate the stool at the bench where the birthday boy will breakfast, set out breakfast plates, a birthday badge and a small present or two if it's a weekday, as we wait till their dad is home from work to open the real presents. We also take a photo with the birthday board each year, as a way to mark the changes from year to year. More on that here.

As I've mentioned before, the boys have a birthday party every other year. If it's not their turn, we still do someting special with them - dinner or a BBQ with a couple of friends. Max had a Harry Potter party last year, so this year is Finn's year. After much deliberation, Finney decided on a pirate party and I duly started scouring Pinterest for ideas. I'm a much better imitator than a creator, so much of the below is based on other clever people's ideas.

Invitations were designed, scrunched, drenched in tea, burnt, rolled and delivered.

We decorated the house with portholes, an octopus, a treasure chest for the goody bags and created a Pirate Captain:

 

I had a ball with our themed party food:

Driftwood - pretzel sticks
Grilled parrot - chicken wings
Shaking ships - jelly in orange peel on a jelly sea
Ship dogs - hot dogs with sails
Octo-dip - capsicum, veges and dip
Dead man's fingers -  chocolate finger biscuits
Scurvy medicine - fruit kebabs
Fish 'n' chips - potato chips and goldfish crackers
Sea water - lemonade punch

The birthday boy and his guests received pirate names by rolling the dice. 

Captain Long Bandit Finn and his crew spent most of the time playing outside in the pirate ship, walking the plank and searching for treasure.

               

And what party is complete without a birthday cake? Finn asked for a pirate ship on his 4th birthday, so I had to find something different for this one - I went for simple this year!