Pirates and Princess Birthday Party

After I swam laps at the club (700 meters), we went to Melia's birthday party.  When we arrived, some of the kids had already started coloring a picture.  Collin was not interested because there were characters in the room entertaining the kids.  There was Snow White, a mermaid and a Pirate.  Collin did NOT want to be in the same room as the characters so we when outside to play on the small playground.  I was hoping he change his mind and want to go back inside because it was hot....getting close to 97 already.  There were other boys out there playing for the same reason.  Is there a theme here?  Collin did eventually change his mind after 20 minutes and we went back inside.

Now the kids were painting a treasure chest.  At first, he did not want to paint until I sat beside him.  He even waved at the mermaid when she walked by and commented on his painting techniques.  He did have a good time mixing the colors on his box.  One mother commented that he paints with precision.....another way to say that he does concentrate hard while he is painting which results in really even paint lines for an almost 4 year old. 

After painting, the kids got to pick whether they wanted to be a pirate or a princess.  Collin did not want to be either.  At least he did not want to be a princess!  He saw the other boys put on their vests and hats so he did put his on......for less than 10 minutes.  He did not want to go with the other pirates and chose to watch the princesses sing a song and learn the moves to the song. 

Definitely looks like he is not interested

After all of the kids finished playing as princess or a pirate, it was time to hit the pinata.  Collin did not want to stand in line or hit the pinata (hmmmm....maybe we should have stayed home.  It would have been a lot easier on me).  He did want to hit after about 12 kids took their turn.  He knew what to do because he just hit a pinata last weekend at the family reunion and watched the other kids do it.  He missed the first time and hit it the next three swings. ....but did not put a dent in it.  Eventually, the pinata was broken open.  He raced into the middle of the candy pile with the other kids and came away with some candy.  Of course, he wanted to eat it right away.

It was then time to eat lunch.  He had a HUGE sandwich, some grapes and then birthday cake.  He did not want to leave when it was time to go.  Really?  He acted like he did not want to be there and was not having fun most of the time we were there.  I mentioned to him that people were starting to leave so let's race them to the front door.  That worked!  He loves to race

Here is his treasure box after we brought it home to dry

We are resting now before we head to the zoo for my company's family outing today.