Ethan has been asking for a pirate birthday for months now so we cooked up the idea of building a pirate ship out of boxes for his party. Evie and Ethan have enjoyed playing in the boxes through every phase of construction. This is the day we brought the boxes home. They quickly got their flashlights and crawled into the dark boxes.
Trying to lay out the ship to see what fits in our living room. With the unpredictable weather this time of the year it has to be an inside party. The weather happened to be nice on his birthday and the entire week before but you never know...
Ethan loved having access to all of daddy's tools...and of course misplaces them as quickly as Joel needed them.
Yep, looks about right...
Basic layout before a coat of paint and some accessories...
Ethan's Smith grandparents sent him a pirate costume and the cool flag we used for his ship for Christmas. It worked perfectly.
Joel had fun (not really) blowing up lots and lots of balloons for the water...
The kids were having fun scrubbing and playing with lots of tiny tiny potatoes for Ethan's party tonight.
Ethan's ship, finished and ready for lots of pirate cousins to arrive
Pirate Ethan and Mermaid Evie
Daddy snuggling Evie. She still isn't feeling well from her allergic reaction to the penicillin she took last week. She is still covered in hives. She is quite the sport considering how she must feel.
It's baby Maria Potter's 1st birthday today. That was an unreal fast year. She is the youngest cousin.
Peek-a-boo
Ethan was trying to get grandpa Potter with his sword.
Ethan and his buddy Joe
Isaiah wrestling the crocodile. All rough pirate water needs a shifty
croc swimming around.
Pirate Joel manning the grill. I love that the days are getting longer and that the weather was fantastic.
Evie in one of her many wardrobe changes of the night.
The siblings (except Jessica). Mandy, Laurie, Me and Jeremy.
Jack and Gabriel
It was darling to see Maria in the balloons. She looked like she was having a blast.
The kids are gathered to get instructions for the treasure hunt..
Joel took the kids on a treasure hunt giving them clues to spots around the house. Each spot had a small treasure box with a toy for their loot bag
This was the final treasure box and maybe part of the reason why the kids were on a sugar-high
The kids digging in as they found the last treasure box...
I'm three...time for cake. Grandma gets to hold the
grandkids as they blow out their candles.
She always lets them dig their fingers in the frosting. Ethan has been waiting all day for this moment.
Happy 1st birthday sweet little Maria.
Grandma getting Maria's finger full of frosting.
Well, the knife looks much closer than it actually is...
Maria enjoyed her cake...maybe a little too much. Heard it didn't sit well with her last night. Sorry Maria.
Louis was laughing as the kids tossed balloons out of the peak holes on the ship. It was pretty precious.
Aubrey and two of her beautiful girls - Morgan and Maddie. Maria is tucked behind still enjoying her cake.
Finally, Ethan - It's time for presents.
Joe and Ethan with the new Nerf gun from grandma and grandpa Potter.
One last game - turns out the kids could see with the mask included with the game. It wasn't until Maddie came along and said something. We thought all the older kids were just that awesome.
Ethan got his first tool set. He's sporting his safety goggles.
So Evie is still not doing well from the allergic reaction she had to her penicillin last Tuesday. It's hard to see her look so miserable. She really has been such a trooper because she is in a lot of discomfort.
Pirate Maria and Jeremy
My mom gets a photo credit for a lot of the pictures used. I loved this one of Ethan listening to Joel give the treasure hunt directions.
Joe and Mandy
Delphina and Gabriel
Clare, Morgan, Delphina, Gabriel, Jack and Joe
Laurie and Clare
All cleaned up from her 1st cake, Maria was ready to open her gifts. Grandma and grandpa Potter got her a cool bowling set that she was for sure excited about.
Ethan has been asking for a pirate birthday for months now so we cooked up the idea of building a pirate ship out of boxes for his party. Evie and Ethan have enjoyed playing in the boxes through every phase of construction. This is the day we brought the boxes home. They quickly got their flashlights and crawled into the dark boxes.
Trying to lay out the ship to see what fits in our living room. With the unpredictable weather this time of the year it has to be an inside party. The weather happened to be nice on his birthday and the entire week before but you never know...
Ethan loved having access to all of daddy's tools...and of course misplaces them as quickly as Joel needed them.
Yep, looks about right...
Basic layout before a coat of paint and some accessories...
Ethan's Smith grandparents sent him a pirate costume and the cool flag we used for his ship for Christmas. It worked perfectly. 
Joel had fun (not really) blowing up lots and lots of balloons for the water...
The kids were having fun scrubbing and playing with lots of tiny tiny potatoes for Ethan's party tonight.
Ethan's ship, finished and ready for lots of pirate cousins to arrive
Pirate Ethan and Mermaid Evie
Daddy snuggling Evie. She still isn't feeling well from her allergic reaction to the penicillin she took last week. She is still covered in hives. She is quite the sport considering how she must feel. 
It's baby Maria Potter's 1st birthday today. That was an unreal fast year. She is the youngest cousin.
Peek-a-boo
Ethan was trying to get grandpa Potter with his sword.
Ethan and his buddy Joe 
Isaiah wrestling the crocodile. All rough pirate water needs a shifty croc swimming around.
Pirate Joel manning the grill. I love that the days are getting longer and that the weather was fantastic.
Evie in one of her many wardrobe changes of the night.
The siblings (except Jessica). Mandy, Laurie, Me and Jeremy.
Jack and Gabriel
It was darling to see Maria in the balloons. She looked like she was having a blast.
The kids are gathered to get instructions for the treasure hunt..
Joel took the kids on a treasure hunt giving them clues to spots around the house. Each spot had a small treasure box with a toy for their loot bag
This was the final treasure box and maybe part of the reason why the kids were on a sugar-high
The kids digging in as they found the last treasure box...
I'm three...time for cake. Grandma gets to hold the grandkids as they blow out their candles.
She always lets them dig their fingers in the frosting. Ethan has been waiting all day for this moment.
Happy 1st birthday sweet little Maria.
Grandma getting Maria's finger full of frosting.
Well, the knife looks much closer than it actually is...
Maria enjoyed her cake...maybe a little too much. Heard it didn't sit well with her last night. Sorry Maria. 
Louis was laughing as the kids tossed balloons out of the peak holes on the ship. It was pretty precious.
Aubrey and two of her beautiful girls - Morgan and Maddie. Maria is tucked behind still enjoying her cake.
Finally, Ethan - It's time for presents. 
Maria is done with her cake and is wearing a good portion of it. Just the way your 1st birthday cake should be.
Joe and Ethan with the new Nerf gun from grandma and grandpa Potter. 
One last game - turns out the kids could see with the mask included with the game. It wasn't until Maddie came along and said something. We thought all the older kids were just that awesome. 
Ethan got his first tool set. He's sporting his safety goggles.
So Evie is still not doing well from the allergic reaction she had to her penicillin last Tuesday. It's hard to see her look so miserable. She really has been such a trooper because she is in a lot of discomfort. 
Pirate Maria and Jeremy
My mom gets a photo credit for a lot of the pictures used. I loved this one of Ethan listening to Joel give the treasure hunt directions.
Joe and Mandy
Delphina and Gabriel
Clare, Morgan, Delphina, Gabriel, Jack and Joe
Laurie and Clare
All cleaned up from her 1st cake, Maria was ready to open her gifts. Grandma and grandpa Potter got her a cool bowling set that she was for sure excited about. 
