AARGH....there be a pirate!

This September, we are going to take a family vacation to South Carolina. This will be very exciting, because it will be the first time Marcus will ever get to see the ocean. Going on the vacation will be Doug, Marcus, myself, Dean, and my mom.

When I was pregnant with Marcus, my mom and me took a trip down there. One of the favorite things that we did (or should I say tried to do) was the Pirate Boat Ride. The pirate boat ride was in Georgetown, SC on the river. When we tried to do the Pirate Boat Ride the last time, the boats departure was delayed because of bad weather. So, we hung out at this pirate themed gift shop & pirate themed bar while we waited for the weather to clear. It was there that we noticed that the entire ships crew (who were, by the way, dressed head to toe like pirates) sat down to get a couple of shots of something at the bar. Then, they washed those shots down with a couple of more shots. I admit that at the time, I thought this was kind of strange. But, I convinced myself that everything was still okay. I thought, "Hey, its not like they are steering the boat...they are just the pirate-dressed-crew. " But, after another 60 minutes went by, the "pirates" started to get obviously drunk at the bar. (When I say drunk, I mean DRUNK. One had to be carried away to his car to sleep it off after nearly collapsing.) Then, they all started using the most terrible, fowl language really loudly at the bar. It was at that moment that it occurred to me that these people really must think they are pirates! Talk about getting into character. Needless to say we left the dock without going on the pirate ride. But, my mom and I still laugh about the experience today.

In the spirit of the Pirate Boat Ride story, my mom and I decided that Marcus needed his own pirate outfit to wear on the vacation. So, I went over to her house, and we set up our sewing machines on her dining room table. My mom worked on sewing a patchwork quilt, and I worked on sewing Marcus a pirate jumper. The sewing machine you see me using in this picture was a Mother's day gift from my mom. (Yes, she gave me a present for mother's day.) It has an on board computer, and can do all sorts of embroidery stitches. It makes sewing so easy, even I can do it!

Well, the pirate jumper came out really cute. Marcus got the biggest smile on his face when he got to try it on for the first time. I think it was because his mommy had been paying so much attention to that pirate fabric all day. So, he must have figured it was something special.

This pattern was really easy to sew. I got it finished in one day...while watching a baby...so that is saying something. I bought some other fabric at the store, so before we leave for vacation I am hoping to finish 3 other jumpers. Stay tuned for future pictures!

You might be wondering what Marcus was doing while my mom and I sewed. Well, the answer to that question is that he was completely trashing my mom's house! We spread out toys all over the floor so that he could practice crawling around. Marcus got so tired, that he laid down and took a nap right there on his blanket on the floor! You can see him in this picture sprawled out...almost in mid-crawl.




Awhile ago, I had ordered some custom sewing labels to sew into the things I made. This was the first time I got to use them. They turned out really cool!