Invasion of the pirates

Dan and Loralynn were the most authentic pirates on the ship.

All aboard! Only pirates allowed on this ship sailing the Main River in Schweinfurt. Actually, all of the school staff was invited for this end of the year party. It was a family affair and finished off the year in a fun way (even though there was still a week of work to be done before summer break officially began for Dan).

This is the first time I've worn earrings.

It was pirate-themed and Dan helped to deck out our a little family with eye patches, swords, a hook, ear rings and loads of pirate stickers. Loralynn just happened to have the perfect outfit and Tana’s went over just fine, too. Dan made do with his Arabic man-dress (which he tucked entirely into his pants!) and his lederhosen vest. Chest hair suited the occasion perfectly! I scrounged up what was easiest to find and could make me pass as a piratess. The best part was that we didn’t have a purchase a single piece of clothing for the four of us and we still made out well.

We spent most of our time in the sun on the upper deck chatting here and there and watching our funny girls. We ate the bratwurst and pork steak provided for dinner and watched the boat sail through the water—two hours upstream and one hour back down stream. The weather was very warm for a change.

My favorite part of the trip was watching Loralynn (now over 3.5 years old) come out of her shy demeanor when she had a sheet of stickers in her hand. She was bold and hardly asked for my assistance. We had about 70 people from our schools on the boat and she must have given almost everyone a pirate sticker—if not two or three stickers. She was bubbly and super enthusiastic as each person asked or received a sticker with excitement.

Loralynn and Tana shared a "pop rocks" popscicle.

She went on for a long time like this and when she ran out, I produced another sheet of stickers and she wandered around with Dan. When that sheet was emptied, I produced yet another sheet of stickers and took my second round with Loralynn to give them out. Her excitement made my heart so happy.

Just near the end of our cruise, a downpour of rain began almost without warning. We all sought cover under deck. It pelted the boat and water with thunderous noise, but luckily as we pulled into the dock, it slowed down to a light rain. We were able to make it to the parking garage without being entirely soaked.

It wasn’t until a few days later that we realized we had left our camera behind (and I’m pretty sure I left the new sunglasses that Dan had bought me for mother’s day). We were able to retrieve the camera intact, thankfully, but the sunglasses never turned up.