Today we went to the Tall Ships in Tacoma. They come to the Puget Sound every 3-4 years, and I thought just maybe it would be way cool. So off we went to Tacoma...
If you know me I'm always looking for cheap entertainment for my family. Part of that always includes, how much for parking, tickets, etc. Well, Tacoma has the perfect parking and transportation system to get around. We parked at the free garage, and took the Tacoma link to the festival.
Of course you call it a train ride and any Toddler will think its great!
Logan looked a little disappointed, but he thought it was okay.
We disembarked at the Union Station, walked under the glass ceiling bridge, and low and behold, PIRATES!!!
I took a few shots of the ceiling, and of the glass artwork along the wall.
It's exactly what it sounds like. The kids took plastic bats and wacked them into a garbage can.
Load the Cannon
Load the Cargo.
This was a relay race. The kids ran with a burlap bag to the flag pole and back until all 4 were "loaded". Of course, my son, was smart and carried 2 at once. He would have won, if he hadn't have got distracted by Nick falling down. He had to make sure his friend was okay. Then he slowed down and lost interest. Oh well. I'm really not that competitive.
Raising the flag.
We were really lucky to see "The Lady of Washington" sail by us. As they were passing, they let off their cannon, and we thought that was cool. One of the Pirate ladies said they do that on purpose everytime they pass Pirate Cove, because they know they can't shoot back. Once the kids collected all their stamps on their maps they went to a tent to receive their treasure. Which ended up being a beaded necklace.
Here's my little sailor.
And my little Pirate!
If you know me I'm always looking for cheap entertainment for my family. Part of that always includes, how much for parking, tickets, etc. Well, Tacoma has the perfect parking and transportation system to get around. We parked at the free garage, and took the Tacoma link to the festival. 
Of course you call it a train ride and any Toddler will think its great!
We disembarked at the Union Station, walked under the glass ceiling bridge, and low and behold, PIRATES!!!
I took a few shots of the ceiling, and of the glass artwork along the wall.We were really close to the Tacoma Glass Museum, I thought about taking the boys there sometime....then I figured, 4 year old and glass...not a great idea
We started walking around the festival and saw these cute old ladies from the senior center putting tattoo's on kids...Here's Logan's version...Ya'll know Cooper wouldn't stay still for a picture.
After some searching we finally found the Childrens Cove, or as we came to call it, Pirate's cove.
We started walking around the festival and saw these cute old ladies from the senior center putting tattoo's on kids...Here's Logan's version...Ya'll know Cooper wouldn't stay still for a picture.
The kids were given a treasure map and went to different stations to get a stamp after they learned a different Pirate activity. There was a ring toss, Bisquit Toss. Here's my favorite,
Bat-a-Rat
It's exactly what it sounds like. The kids took plastic bats and wacked them into a garbage can.
Load the Cannon
Load the Cargo.This was a relay race. The kids ran with a burlap bag to the flag pole and back until all 4 were "loaded". Of course, my son, was smart and carried 2 at once. He would have won, if he hadn't have got distracted by Nick falling down. He had to make sure his friend was okay. Then he slowed down and lost interest. Oh well. I'm really not that competitive.
Raising the flag.The pirate asked the boys Pirate questions and if they answered correctly they hoisted the flag up the pole. Cooper just wanted to hoist the flag. He didn't want to answer the questions.
We were really lucky to see "The Lady of Washington" sail by us. As they were passing, they let off their cannon, and we thought that was cool. One of the Pirate ladies said they do that on purpose everytime they pass Pirate Cove, because they know they can't shoot back. Once the kids collected all their stamps on their maps they went to a tent to receive their treasure. Which ended up being a beaded necklace.
Here's my little sailor.
And my little Pirate! Cooper would ARRRGH at every single pirate we saw the whole day!
Finally, a chance to get on a boat!
I couldn't pass another visual display of artwork. This is one of the many tightly wound ropes they had on the deck of the boat.
Look mom, I'm a sailor, I'm sailing.
Looking up at the mast.
Making our own boats.
We wanted to get on this boat, but the wait was 2 hours long. Not with 4 toddlers, who at this point were really really hungry.
At first we thought this was a cool statue...
Then it jumped out at Cooper and freaked him out. Jeannene and I took a picture with him so Cooper would think it was okay.
Then he decided that the sword looked kinda cool and wanted to protect his family.
We were so worn out at the end of the day. I didn't even take pictures of all of us on the shuttle bus back to the parking garage. We wish we could have gone on more ships, but after walking almost 1.5 miles with 4 kids we decided we've seen enough.
Finally, a chance to get on a boat!
I couldn't pass another visual display of artwork. This is one of the many tightly wound ropes they had on the deck of the boat.
Look mom, I'm a sailor, I'm sailing.
Looking up at the mast.
Making our own boats.
We wanted to get on this boat, but the wait was 2 hours long. Not with 4 toddlers, who at this point were really really hungry.
At first we thought this was a cool statue...
Then it jumped out at Cooper and freaked him out. Jeannene and I took a picture with him so Cooper would think it was okay.
Then he decided that the sword looked kinda cool and wanted to protect his family.
We were so worn out at the end of the day. I didn't even take pictures of all of us on the shuttle bus back to the parking garage. We wish we could have gone on more ships, but after walking almost 1.5 miles with 4 kids we decided we've seen enough.
Good times, Good Friends, and Good Food! Then it rained. 
