There were nine girls total (Amelia, Natalie and seven quests). Many of them were dressed up as pirates when they arrived. We gave each one an eyepatch and a necklace with a skull on it.
They played outside on our "pirate ship" fort for a while before we announced a game of "musical islands." Now, according the the legend I heard... "15 men on the Dead Man's Chest" refers to when Blackbeard marooned a whole shipload of mutineers on Deam Man's Chest Island and gave each a cutlass and a bottle of rum. When he returned a month later all but 15 were dead. Pretty cool for a party, right? We made cardboard "islands" and played a variation on musical chairs.
Next came the craft activity. We made oceans to take home. We took plastic cubes, filled them about 1/3 full of water with blue food coloring, then topped it off with baby oil (the two liquids won't mix), and glued the tops on. They turned out really cool.
After some more free time, I presented a note from Captain Stinkybottom that read...
I have hidden the treasure
and sailed away.
If you want to find it,
this game you must play.
I won't make it easy,
so for hints you must look.
You'll find your next clue
in a Scooby-Do book.
The girls spent a while finding clues inside and outside the house. The finally ended up in the sandbox where the pinata was hidden. I hung it up and they whacked the candy out of it.
It was finally time for the "treasure island" cake. I had made it myself this year. Two layers of strawberry cake with raspberry filling. Quite yummy if I do say so myself.
Amelia got to open her "loot" and most of the girls went home. We kept a few to for an overnight visit. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.
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