Pirates have been an obsession with T for at least a year. Jake & the Neverland Pirates is one of his go to shows, he plays pirate legos, dresses up in pirate costume frequently, and chooses pirates books to be read to him. Of course, he has other interests, but pirates are a favorite for sure.
When planning our ABC countdown, we thought we were going to do 'X marks the spot' for X day, and do a treasure hunt for the kids. We threw out those plans we heard about a pirate school for kids that was taking place at a pirate festival on the local radio while in OBX on vacation. We couldn't believe our luck! Pirate school? We were excited, and knew T would be too.
We got up early one morning and traveled inland to see the pirates. Boy oh boy were we impressed! There were pirates and pirates' gear everywhere! We asked lots of questions, took lots of pictures, and checked out all the cool stuff.
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| Of course, we looked at the guns for awhile. |
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| It's a pirate's life for us! |
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| We almost came home with one of these flags. But thought it might scare our neighbors. |
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| Loading up the cannon. |
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| Pirate school took place on the hour, and we had to wait for almost 20 minutes to ensure our spot. It was quite a popular event! Waiting meant standing quietly behind one of these wooden rifles. That's hard to do when you're three! |
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| Finally the teachers arrived and began to ready things. Of course they were pirates. We took a few more pictures while we waited and we knew our places were secure. |
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| School began, and K & T listened to a little pirate history in the state of NC. |
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| Listening to the rules of pirate school. |
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| Getting ready for sword handling 101. |
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| The first pirate move K & T learned was 'rest'. The 'sword' sits on the top of their feet, so as not to dig into the deck of the ship. |
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| Resting. |
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| Next move, "attention". Getting their swords ready to use. |
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| Then came the 'attack' move. This one came naturally. :) |
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| More resting. |
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| Practicing pirate moves with partners. |
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| Finally, came the 'block' move. This one took a bit of practice, but they both got it. |
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| Then there was an assessment, K went first. She passed! |
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| T did too, and gave a strong pirate's snarl upon request! |
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| Then it was time for rifles. It amazed me how carefully the entire lot of children paid attention during this activity. Pirate school is interesting! |
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| Practicing with rifles. |
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| And back to swords. Rest. |
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| Attention. |
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| Attack! |
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| More attacking. |
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| Blocking and yelling (This was their favorite!) |
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| Cutest pirates in town, watch out for these two! |
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| GRRRRRR me 'earties! |
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| Receiving their graduation certificates and pirate coins. |
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| What awesome teachers they had. K & T loved pirate school, and months later, can still do the moves. |
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| Showing off her treasures of the morning. |
After the pirates' festival, we ventured on to look for treasure. We had told the kids that there was indeed more treasure, and after a quick slushie to cool down, we were off to find it.
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| X marks the spot on the map, we finally arrived! Certainly, many treasures could be found in a store named for Pirates and Pixies. We were ready for an adventure! |
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| A quick pose with a Playmobil pirate captain. |
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| We told K & T that they each could find one special treasure of their liking. So the big question was, "What to choose, what to choose...." |
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| As soon as K found this sparkly pink unicorn, she couldn't be swayed. |
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| This guy, on the other hand, liked everything. |
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| Looks like Daddy found a treasure too. |
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| Trying out some toys, with unicorn close by. |
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| Yo-ho! |
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| It took some time, but T made his final selection, a pirate squeeze gun. No shocker there! The treasures K &T chose were perfect for them. |
X is for X marks the spot. It was an eXcellent day! (And thus ends the blogs about vacation. sigh).
