Back on track... Ella's birthday party

For Ella's birthday this year she requested a pirate themed birthday party.  I did my best to create an amazing adventure for her and her friends.  I created a story for them to follow, Narrated by me with a poem I wrote for the occasion.  At different times during the story, they had to complete tasks to continue on.
We started the party in "Ye old Tavern" a tent we set up on the front lawn.  The kids got their faces painted, and played with water guns while we waited for all our guest to arrive.


 Once everyone was here, we started the party with Dad arresting the children for piracy and putting them in "jail".  I read them the beginning of the poem and they had to complete their first task.  I didn't get it on camera, but they had to use bean bags to knock down a guard dummy that was set up outside of the jail, then unlock Jon from handcuffs and escape out the gate.

Once upon a time at the beginning of our tale,

There was a band of young pirates locked in a jail.

There was nothing to do or see in the cell,

Except a sleeping old pirate who was snoring as well.

A trial and then death was the old pirates fate,

Unless he could get help to escape out the gate.

They were watched by only one sleepy guard,

Getting rid of him shouldn’t be very hard.

If only they had a rock or a stick,

I bet they could knock that guy out in one lick!

Then grab his keys to unlock the door,

And be free to be pirates and sail once more!

The young pirates were happy they’d escaped that foul place,

But they had nowhere to go and the guards would give chase.

The old pirate was thankful and invited them to stay,

With him and crew his ship he had hidden on the bay.

So they gathered some supplies and set out to find,

Adventure on the high sea, leaving the guards behind.

The kids then had to navigate a series of obsticales to get to the backyard and find the pirate ship there.

The pirates sailed for days upon the high seas,

Searching for trouble or treasure born on a stiff breeze.

And trouble did find them as from the sea bed,

A big hungry kraken reared its ugly head.

The kraken thought pirates a fine tasty feast,

But the pirates did not wish to be eaten by a beast.

They must rally together and fight from the heart,

Or be caught and eaten or just torn apart.

The kraken was mighty and big and strong,

But the pirates were fearless and it didn’t take long,

‘till nothing was left, the kraken was dead!

Leaving behind only a bottle and an old pirate head.

The head belonged to a pirate of old,

A pirate who was rumored to have lots of gold,

Stolen by him from the mighty zombie chief,

But I suppose the kraken ate the old thief.

Now there is nothing left but his poor shrunken head,

And a note in a bottle which reading it, said…

“I never got my gold, only ½ of a map

The zombie chief was a mighty old chap

The map ripped in 2 and I can’t find the spot

Now I’m sitting in a kraken and waiting to rot”

And inside the note was the old pirate’s part

Of the zombie chiefs map, they saw with a start.

If only they had the rest of the scroll

They could find the treasure in it’s hidy-hole.

There is only one way to defeat a zombie horde,

You must collect the fruit of the marshmallow gourd

The pirates set sail for the only place on earth

Where the climate was right for the mallow gourds birth.

Now the pirates were armed and ready to fight

They set off for Zombie Island and sailed through the night

The zombie chief keeps his half in a box

Guarded by him and protected by locks

To protect his map he swallowed the key

Now it floating around in his stomach you see?

So defeat the king and search in his belly,

To find the key that is floating in jelly…

The key was found and the chest unlocked

They had the map so they returned to the dock

They reunited the 2 pieces and began look

For the amazing treasure the zombie chief took

Follow the map carefully, read it well,

You will find the treasure and your life will be swell.

The pirates adventure has come to an end

They found their treasure and made a new friend

Now it is time to have some cake and play

And we’ll look for adventure another day.

After the adventure was over, we had pirate flag cake and them opened presents.  Then the kids got to play in the amazing backyard until their parents came to get them.  I think it was a big success and that everyone had lots of fun!  I love doing birthday parties and I am grateful for the chance I had to do them for my kids this year.