Sunday, August 29, 2004

A Pirate's Life For Me

Wouldn't you just know it? After that (probably) PMS-induced post about Foster City going overboard with the nautical theme, I found myself there--near "Isle Cove" to be exact--at a pirate-themed birthday party for J.G., a tow-headed, goofy-smiled 5-year-old who will go down in history as Risa and Vida's first guy pal.

This little shindig was crazy. Upon entering, each child received their own pirate costume: three-cornered hat with skull-n-bones insignia, eye patch, choice of red sequined or black-and-white striped pirate sash, and tattoos. The coolest kid there immediately wrapped the sequined sash around his head and topped it off with the hat. Loved that kid. After twenty minutes of chasing each other around, the little loons were directed to Treasure Island, where they used faux jewels to decorate their own treasure chests.

Then the pirate showed up.

I have to hand it to Captain Shook. It must have been almost 90 degrees and he was gamely sporting a green velvet frock coat, ruffled white shirt, black boots, and a big black velvet pirate hat. He told a joke. The joke went like this: "Which letter of the alphabet do pirates like best?" Blanks stares from the children. A dramatic pause from Captain Shook. And then... "Aaaaaaaargh!" The guy could not have told a better-received joke. I thought the kids were gonna lose consciousness from laughing so hard. Not surprisingly, it is a joke I have heard repeated about 437 times now. Tell it to every five-year-old you know, but make sure to scrunch up one eye and use your pirate voice.

There was a lot to this party--a pirate ship pinata; pin the eye patch on the pirate; goldfish bowl favors (with a Petco gift card, which I didn't quite "get" until I realized we were supposed to use them to buy goldfish); pirate flag waving and marching; a treasure hunt. But the real swashbuckling fun did not begin until Captain Shook had fashioned a balloon sword for each partygoer.

I realize now that I hadn't truly lived until the moment I saw Risa and Vida in back-to-back lunging stances, using their swords to hold off not one boy each but two while simultaneously retrieving candy from their goody bags and occasionally letting loose with a hearty, "Aaaaaaaargh!"

Good practice for their teenage years, I'd say.

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