Ahoy, Mateys!

After last year's ambitious Halloween costume, I was done.  I promised myself I would never go all out like that again.  And I meant it.

So this year when Noah said he wanted to be a pirate, I was thrilled.  He'd had a pirate birthday party, so I knew we could reuse his party t-shirt and hat, cut up some sweat pants, and have a zero stress costume.

But then he started talking about how he wanted to turn his bike into a pirate ship, and I was like, "Uh no...Mama is out!!!"

Fortunately he has a father who truly loves to do this sort of thing, so those two boys started scheming...and then they started spending hours together out in the garage.

Ryan convinced him that a bike wasn't going to cut it.  They needed a wagon.  And they needed to expand the wagon with wooden pallets...and cardboard...and wooden masts and sheets and flags and rope.  Ha!

Every night after dinner, Noah would say, "Dad, can we go work on my pirate ship?"  Cutest thing ever.

So although it is ridiculous to spend this much time and effort on a Halloween ensemble, when it is the result of hours of father-and-son bonding time, I think it's pretty awesome.

BEHOLD, ME HEARTIES....

Captain Noah and his First Mate, Hairy-Chested Sal...

 

Never has chest hair been cuter!!

Isn't that pirate ship completely amazing??  A few people told Ryan that if dentistry doesn't work out for him, he could go into building floats for parades instead.  The kids actually rode around in it as we Trick-or-Treated.  Noah had a little too much fun shouting out commands and ordering us to pull the ship this way and that.  Hilarious.

Another highlight of the evening was Katie came to Trick or Treat with our little pirate crew, and she did her own spooky makeup, which Noah, of course, loved.  So fun. 

People ask how we will ever top this.  Truthfully, we won't try.  If it happens naturally like it did this year and Noah and Ryan are excited about some elaborate project for a Halloween in the future, we might do something big--but if it doesn't and the kids end up in rags from the dress up box, that's fine too.  Halloween is about family fun, not stress, right?

All I know is that it was arggguably one of our best yet, and we will never forget it!