Hodges Happenings: Hudson's "Jake" Birthday Party

On June 1st, Hudson had his FOURTH birthday party!!!

He loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates and thought it was such a cool idea for his party.

All of the grandparents were here for Hannah's graduation the night before, so we thought it was a good weekend to have the party while they were here.

We had the party at Tinsley Park not far from our house. We did have a couple of rain showers during the party but it didn't damper much. The kids played on the playground while we set up and stayed busy under the pavilion with party stuff the rest of the time anyway.

We were very thankful to have all of Hudson's grandparents and Aunt Wendy and family as well as a couple of sweet friends and their families come celebrate with us.

It was fun to plan this party with all of the pirate stuff, though it is hard decorating without it looking like Skull Town. I'm not a fan of the skull and crossbones trend. It's just too dark in my opinion. We needed some cuteness and age-appropriate goodies, and I think I found them!

The little man of the hour
(who got a scrape on his chin running down the sidewalk at Hannah's school the night before)

Hudson loved everything at his party. Of course, with his personality, we could have brought a small cake and some snacks and called it a party and he would've been happy. He's always been easy to please. But, he did get really excited about his cake and the other things I got for his party.

He had a fun, albeit, melting pirate ship cake (chocolate buttercream---need I say more??), fun cupcakes with flags, cheese planks (cheese straws), sea scrolls (Pirouette hazelnut wafers-yum!), blue jello cups with cantaloupe sail boats with little flags (this was a major hit), and pirate pinwheels. We also had lemonade in "Jake" cups and paper straws for the kids. Kids love some straws!

Blowing out the candles!
We had to hurry this process because the cake was literally melting! Part of the yellow trim had already melted down the side and we lost the other gray life-preserver circle overboard before I could even take pictures of it all put together. Thankfully, I carried an extra piping bag with more icing and somewhat fixed it.
It was very humid. But, we made it!

Our sweet, happy boy!

Yay! I remembered a family shot!
Andrew may or may not be whacking Hannah with a sword in this picture.

Yum! Jell-o! Especially yummy because they almost never have any!

Johnathan, Jenny, and Hannah

Sword fight!!!
Who do you think won?

The treasure box was a big hit. It had big jewels, bead necklaces, and gold coins inside. All of the kids also got a sword, eyepatch, and telescope to take home. And everyone at the party got a bag of loot-gold nuggets (Hershey's almond chocolates)!

Hudson loved Johnathan's Batman Ninja sword and weapon belt he gave him!

Opening his new Jake toy ship (that shoots darts) that his little friend, Isaac, gave him. He loves it.

He also got a very nice new Pottery Barn Batman backpack BB and G-Daddy gave him for school. It even has his name on it. He is so proud of it. And ready for school!!!

He got lots of fun new things he loves. He also got awesome Batman sheets from Big Mama and Papo (along with swim lessons), a Batman blanket from Aunt Wendy and Jenny, and a Batman cuddle buddy from Ray and Ridge. He has been so excited to sleep on and with all of his new Batman bed stuff. He's had plain sheets for a long time and a baby blanket that is much too small to cover him up all the way now.

He also got a bunch of cool Batman stuff and a handsome outfit from his friend Clark and an Auburn baseball cap and Auburn football from Aunt Jenn and family. He absolutely loves it all.

This is a funny picture. We had Hudson close his eyes while we brought in his new bicycle from us and when we told him to open up his eyes and turn around, he literally turned "around" and did a 180 and faced forward again, missing the bike. I caught him looking embarrassed because everyone laughed at how cute and funny it was!

Hannah had him get on while she proceeded to give him lessons on how to ride...complete with her hand supporting his back. It was so cute. She's a good big sister, and he's a willing and compliant student.