Very Few Kids, But LOTS of Pirates...

This has been kind of a mini-vacation.

Ever since Sunday, my three youngest children have been living it up in Cape Breton with my parents. Having a blast.

My oldest son just went off Wednesday morning to a camp (though there should be a better word... they don't have a fixed place to stay... they're travelling from place to place on an urban/rural environmental adventure) and is away until Sunday.

My oldest daughter, as you may have read, is working during the day, and dancing at the Nova Scotia Tattoo in the evenings. So most of her time at home is spent sleeping.

So, despite the fact that my wife has been working steadily all this time, we have found that the pace of life has slackened somewhat recently.

So much, in fact, that we went on a late-night date.

We caught (and I believe that for my wife, this is a first) the midnight showing of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." And we had a really good time. It was interesting to see such a cross-section of viewers at a midnight showing. Families, couples, teenagers, adults... they were all well represented. Even a couple of young women dressed up, quite spectacularly I might add, as pirates.

The movie itself was *very* enjoyable. It's packed with so much story, action, adventure, and spectacle that it bears another viewing. At *least* one more. Yeah, it totally rocked.

However, it is *not* a movie for my smaller children to see in the theatre. The potential to "fweak dem out" is just a bit too strong. Once it's on dvd, though, I guarantee it will be a big hit with them.

Tomorrow I'm going half-way to Cape Breton to meet my folks and pick up the little kids. And Sunday my 14-year-old comes home. And the Tattoo ends on Saturday. So life will return to normal pretty soon.

But I have to say, it's been a nice change of pace.

And who knows... I still have a little time left. Perhaps later I'll raid the playroom and dress up as a pirate myself, then go off in search of some plunder. Avast, ye scabrous dogs! Aaarrghh!