...ride on a pirate ship!
(Liam isn't smiling here, but that's because he was too enraptured by what else was going on and I couldn't get him to smile. He is thrilled to be on the pirate ship, and is seen here in front of their emblem).
Quick info...we went on a pirate cruise down in Wildwood, NJ, on a ship called the Dark Star. Young "pirates" get to take a one hour cruise out onto Sunset Lake (not out that far), and participate in some pirate-y fun. On the way out there, some local scurvy dogs attacked with water-laden projectiles (water balloons thrown from a passing motorboat), and the young pirates fired back with the ship's cannons (water was pumped into aim-able "cannons" on the side of the ship, allowing the kids to spray enemies with water). There was a duel between the crew to settle an argument about looking for treasure. A few enemy pirates attacked from their ship (another motorboat, but more pirate-y, with pirates on it spraying the kids with big water guns) and once again the young pirates had to shoot their cannons at the enemy vessel. The first encounter caused the enemies to drop a map to the buried treasure, and a second encounter left us with the treasure (fake jeweled rings). After that, the young scallywags got to enjoy some Dark Star Grog (root beer) in their pirate mugs. Totally fun.
So...
Captain Jim and Wet Dog (one of the deckhands) are seen here dueling, fighting over some dispute about the treasure they were off to find.
Bloody Mary was the other crew member, in addition to Terrible Tim who was steering the ship, and she helped rally the volunteer crew (that would be us and our kids) to help fight the attacking pirates and keep a sharp eye out for treasure.
Captain Jim addresses the younger part of the crew, making sure they are fit to sail on his vessel. Liam is happy to be among them.
The young pirate helpers are gathered around the Captain to take a look at the map (see Liam to the right, in the pirate hat), to figure out where to find the treasure. This was after the first encounter with the enemy pirates.
Everyone is excited to look for the treasure and lets out a cheer.
Pirate Cole the Drooler joins in on the excitement, with MadDog PopPop. (yeah, I made those up myself...shush)
The two youngest scallywags on board (and their mommies). Heh.
The youngest pirate got tired out and sought her favorite position (Maia wasn't very happy with the loud noises and such by the end of the cruise).
And for a perfect ending to the pirate cruise, Liam scores a picture with the Captain.
