When Pirates Visit

What fun is having kids if you can't screw with their heads once in a while.

I used to tell Hunter I plugged him in at night with a cord to his belly button so he would be re-charged for the next day.  I have told both kids that I bought them at Walmart.  Repeatedly I tell Cavan I am going to feed him to the wolves.  I am sure therapy later in life will fix them right up.

But the stunt I pulled between last night and today was fabulous.  I will even use that overused word, epic, to describe it.

Pirates visited our house last night.  Well actually, it was just me but I was singing, "Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of milk" to myself as I crept out into the backyard.  A few weeks ago I had a friend pick me up 300 plastic gold coins from the DollarStore in Whitehorse.  I had been saving them for nice weather and it finally arrived this week.  So last night around 10pm I went outside to our large sandbox/swing area and spent about 20 minutes burying my treasures all around.  A hole here.  A hole there.  One coin here.  Five coins there.  Awesome.

This afternoon the boys and I went outside to enjoy the sun.  I didn't say a thing, I just sat back and watched the boys do what boys do best.  Oh wait.  What boys do best is fight.  Okay, what boys do second best- dig in sand.  It only took about 10 minutes for the first coin to be unearthed and then all hell broke loose.  Digging and coin stealing went on for over two straight hours. 

They have found maybe 100 coins so far.  I think they will be digging for treasure for the next three months.  And you know what that means to a mama?  It means lots of (semi) peaceful time outside with a good book.  Am I smart, or what?

Arrrrr Mateys!  Stay away from me buried treasures!  And yes, this is what 10pm looks like in the Yukon.  Sunny!

Dig, dig, dig!

Over 300 coins are buried in here!

Just playing....

First coin!!

DIG BEFORE THE PIRATES COME BACK!

He will make a great pirate.  He was stealing all his coins from Hunter.

Mom, I am rich!!

They decided they needed water to assist in the coin excavation efforts.

This kid was on a mission!

I think every parent needs to do this activity.  It is cheap, lasts for hours, and the look on their faces when they realize pirates were in their yard is priceless.