Treasure Hunt in Neverland (Wendy's Birthday)

Wendy and Vera's birthdays are about 2 weeks apart, which makes late February/early March a busy time for us. Wendy's birthday is on the 9th, but we had her party with her friends today. I originally thought we would have a very small party with just 3 little girl friends. Wendy wanted a few more, so we compromised at 7 friends plus our girls! Wendy loves Tinkerbell these days, so to make it more accessible to all the guests we expanded it from just a Tinkerbell party to a 'Treasure Hunt in Neverland' party.

It was my first real 'theme' birthday party. I was a little worried about having that many kids in our small apartment for the afternoon, but it was totally worth it. Wendy had such a great time and her friends did too. Alex was a big help, as he planned the treasure hunt.

Our little guests could choose to be pirates or pixies (or really whatever they wanted) upon their arrival. I bought some 8rmb (about $1.25) fairy wings and pirate hats online (taobao) for kids to choose when they came in. Alex designed this really cool treasure map for the kids:

The kids had to go step by step to get clues that would lead them to the treasure! There were a couple off limits places, like or kitchen and the balcony (the jungle where a tiger a.k.a. our dog lived). The kids were given the maps in bottles:

Here are our little Fairies...Wendy as Tinkerbell, Vera as Silvermist (Tinkerbell's water fairy friend) and Geneva as the cutest little fairy ever! No wings yet for her...fairies don't get those until they can sit up!

And a treasure hunt wouldn't be complete without Captain Hook!

Here Captain Hook has kidnapped Tinkerbell. At Step 1 the kids had to answer 3 questions from Captain Hook about Wendy and then she would be free and they could go to Step 2.

Step 2 was the Lost Boys Hideout and the kids had to jump in sacks on to Step 3...

Step 3 was the Indian Encampment...coloring their maps!

Step 4...Mermaid Lagoon! Waterballoon toss into the shower.

You can see the target...a little mermaid pollypocket.

And then the Treasure at Step 5 ... Pixie Hollow! They played Pass the Pixie (Hot Potato) and the last one standing got to pass out the treasure!

Now on to the cake!

I wish I was better at decorating cakes...but I'll be honest, in our tiny chinese kitchen with limited resources and even more limited time with three little ones, a fancy cake wasn't happening. My sweet Wendy was more than pleased, though, to find her Tinkerbell pollypocket on top of her cake!

And presents...

So now clean up is through and everyone is in bed. It is hard to believe my little Wendy is going to be 5 on Tuesday! Happy Birthday Wendy Jane!