Peter's Pirate Party 7 years old March 2016

I can't believe I have had this any kids with this many parties and have never had a pirate party until now.  Actually I had to talk Peter into having this pirate party but lets face it, It had to happen sometime.  I ordered these pirate swords that came with eye patches online for super cheap. For our first activity which I usually call the gathering activity.  I do this first because I can help them as the kids trickle in.  We made foam boats.  I was planning on racing these  near the end but we ran out of time.
 I created a treasure map that I then tore up into pieces and hid each clue in a different location.  This was the bulk of our party.  They had to find the first clue then figure out where they were on the treasure map to find the next clue.  At the end of the map in X marks the spot they dug up the treasure chest filled with gold, candy, and jewels.  The kids were overjoyed to get all this booty.
After the treasure hunt we had to defeat the evil Black Beard (aka Brennen) with our swashbuckling skills.  Once he was defeated we had to beat the other pirates by throwing water balloons at them.  I just drew them on cardboard and we used a water balloon launcher to toss the balloons.  This was a super hit and we used all the balloons we had.  For this I used those quick fill water balloons.  These balloons have a flaw.  If filled too soon before use the water can leak out of them rendering them useless.  I recommend just filling and using immediately.
After all of that outside play we went inside for cake.  His cake turned out pretty cool.  I made it a pirate ship complete with cannons

Geckos at NHMU Feb 2016

Looking for an activity to do we decided to head to the Museum of Natural History because they were having a special Gecko exhibit.  The boys all got their faces painted as I watched these new face painting techniques.  then they covered gecko silouettes in yard as another craft before we headed up to the actual Gecko's.  Scott was hilarious during this exhibit.  He was like a little kid in a candy store.  He wanted to hold the Gecko's so badly.  Unfortunately they didn't offer that.  We learned a lot about all the different gecko's but it was amazing just to see all of their intricasies up close

Easter at Grandmas April 2015

Easter at grandma's is always a fun affair.  The kids look forward to it ever year because in some of grandma's eggs there is real money. This year was no different.  Everyone got into the fun hunting for eggs as well as coloring them.  I love that all these cousins get along pretty well and know that its all about families.Another year another Easter at Grandma's house.  With all these cute little grand kids the cute factor is times 10.  This year grandma got a bunch of different bunnies to give to the kiddo's.  It was so interesting to see each child choose their rabbit.  They all chose one that reflected their personality.  Peter chose a very handsomely dressed bunny in a tweed jacket.  It was so him I couldn't have picked a better one myself  Brenny chose one that was super soft and bright green. (My Widow loves bright colors)
Although Easter is the holiday that marks my dad's death I feel like its okay, because Easter is the symbol of resurrection, of new life.  It helps when we have these new babies that we can hold and smell.  Because a new baby head smells like heaven.