A Pirate's Life for Me....not

The Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at Disneyland has been a family favorite since our daughter was one year old. It's definitely a darker ride and there are those drops and potential of getting wet that are turn-offs for a lot of the short riders. Initially, my daughter loved it because of the dogs and other animals. As she turned 3 years old, it became more of desire due to the THRILL of the drops aka "the weeeeee's" as they have been referred to in our house but the dogs were also a HUGE issue for Miss Fabulous. Over the week of her third birthday, I am certain we rode Pirates at least 50 times - every night was hard to sleep because the boat motion never stopped!

My daughter and I do play some games on this ride that we share with others who visit with us and the kids all seem to enjoy them terribly! Following the "weeeeee's," we wait for the two rooms on the left with the treasures. We put our hands out in front of us and being scooping the air and putting on the imaginary jewels and crowns and stuff our pockets with our gold. Then we wave our hands through the air as we go through the Davey Jones fog - I don't really know why anymore. We hold out imaginary cups as we go past the leaking barrel that is supposed to be filled with some sort of liquor; however, we are filling OUR cups with Starbucks - my daughter's idea and, yes, I am a Starbucks addict. We grab the dogs in the air and take them with us in the boat. And, before we take Captain Jack's jewels, we spend time at the burning logs collecting rubies and garnets - we don't acknowledge that this is fire, they're jewel logs to decorate ourselves from.

Now, we just finished my daughter's 5th birthday trip, and an odd conversation occurred that made us laugh and is still circling my brain. There is a spot on the ride where there are a few women lined up whom the pirates have captured and these women are being auctioned off to the pirate men. As we went past the "red head" (Disney fans will understand where this is), my daughter looked to the other side and noticed the sign that says "Buy a Bride." She read it and told me, "I never noticed that before, is that what you did, mom?" Surprised and giggling a little, I told her that this was an "old" scene and currently we women get to pick whom we will or will not marry. Huh...not a conversation I expected to have at this age.

I suppose we women can all be thankful, I certainly love choices and imaginary jewels.