I wonder if we could get somebody to throw in a free Coke, hot dog, or apple pie somewhere…

Captain Memo’s Pirate Cruise has cruises for pint-sized to frigate-sized grog-drinking seadogs! Our wee matey gallavanted off to sea with his Grandma, an’ had a rip-roarin’ time afloat!

Ahoy! The Pirate Ship at John’s Pass is another place full o’ pirate-y goodness with gun battles, face painting, and treasure hunts! Arrr.

Capture this cool stuff for junior pirates from ye founders of this ‘ere day of celebration!

In our family, we’ve casually celebrated this day over the years since Dave Barry’s infamous column appeared in 2002. We still aren’t very good at pirate slang, but we try! Just sprinkle in “Avast!” or “Arrr…” into your daily conversation and you’re all set. If you really want to get into character, get your own pirate name at one of these sites:

• What’s My Pirate Name?
• Pirate Name Generator
• Find Your Inner Pirate

Dig up a treasure chest o’ fun with your mateys t’day!

If you are looking for a really excellent musical experience for your child, I recommend checking out Gulf Coast Youth Choirs. GCYC offers a number of graded choirs led by professional choral directors. The founder of the organization, Dr. Lynn Gackle, has wealth of experience and is internationally-recognized as a leader in the choral world. She has assembled a staff of highly qualified professionals who carry her vision through to each choir under their direction.

Singing in a choir is like no other musical experience. It’s like a team sport with aesthetics. You are all working together towards a common goal – communicating to an audience – and the combination of musical language and the poetry of the lyrics speaks like no other. Directors set high expectations and the choristers continually excel. GCYC is a great place to be.

Our Experience – We are in our second year with GCYC, and have great hopes for it being even better than the first. I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of the organization in many areas. As a professional musician myself, I was concerned with the rigor and depth of the program and am sufficiently pleased. The literature selection, coaching, management, care of young voices, attention to detail is all there. Our child enjoys singing and is encouraged week after week to improve and get deeper into the music. Her choir performed at Disney’s Magic Music Days last Spring and they are planning another tour for Spring 2009. As a chaperone for that trip, I was impressed with not only the organization, but the quality kids in this program. They are top notch. It was an absolute pleasure to accompany them on a trip.

If you are not sure if this is something your child would be interested in, I suggest taking them to a concert this year and consider it for next year. You can get more information on their website at http://gulfcoastchoir.com/

The 2008 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from September 26 through November 9. Florida residents are eligible for a lot of great deals during this time of year. If you live close to Orlando, consider the Epcot After 4PM Annual Pass, a fantastic deal, and will get you into Epcot all year without blackout dates after 4pm. This is great if you just want to dine, go to an Eat to the Beat concert, or visit France for pastries and fireworks at the end of an evening.

Kids can experience all the fun of the festival by traveling to over 14 Kidcot activity stops around the theme park. Our kids really enjoy this and it keeps them motivated during the day. It also provides an opportunity to rest inside, out of the sun or rain. This year, USA Pears sponsors The Pearville Fair, a learning center about pears! Our kids love Epcot!

A note about food allergies: In our experience, Disney is very accommodating, especially in the more formal dining experiences. Even the takeaway food stands are pretty knowledgeable about what they are serving. If you have food allergies, notify your server, and they will typically introduce you and your allergic child to the chef. We’ve met numerous Disney chefs and had just as many conversations with them about our food needs. Once, a chef at Boma (my personal favorite Disney restaurant) made a special dessert for Elizabeth since she couldn’t eat a single thing from their dessert offerings. As with any food activity with allergies, don’t forget your Epi-pens, Benadryl, Albuterol, and whatever else you typically need to deal with an incident. Also, don’t forget to pack some safe snacks. We always pack plenty of safe snacks wherever we go.

One last money-saving tip: You can get a large cup of ice water for free at any fountain drink vendor at Disney. I get a 32-ounce cup of ice water and sometimes mix in a Crystal Light To Go packet. Don’t let your budget prevent you from staying hydrated! Pack a water bottle. Water fountains are abundant throughout the parks, and single-serving drink packets can make it more palatable.

Tasting menus from some of the 2007 international food vendors.

I took my 8-year old daughter with me this time since it’s one of the few operas appropriate for kids. She enjoyed it tremendously. This was the ideal place for her to try out opera, as well, since there were snacks and a little more informality than at a live theater environment. I chatted with a gentleman in line who had driven 90 miles with his two granddaughters to see it. His theater and the next closest one were both sold out! I really am not kidding when I say “Buy your tickets early!”

Overall, this was another tremendous experience and I am looking forward to the next one on Saturday, January 12, 2008, at 1:30pm Eastern. It will be a new production of Verdi’s MacBeth! I’m ready!

Today, I enjoyed a Mommy’s Day Out (by myself!) and saw the Metropolitan Opera’s Live HD Broadcast of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. I am a huge opera fan and am absolutely thrilled that the Met has this series so people around the world can enjoy 8 of their operas this year. I host a group on Facebook for this series and posted the following commentary there. Enjoy!

“I thought I’d share a few observations about today’s opera experience.
The actual opera was fantastic! Staging and costumes were superb,
camera work was very well done, and well planned for the opera, and the
singing was amazing. The sound was mostly very good, but there were a
couple of spots where it could’ve been better. It is my opinion that
this is due to the incredible live acoustics in the hall, the
particular planes of sound reflection, and ultimately microphone
placement. Due to the dynamic nature of opera and the integration of
movement with singing (dueling, lovemaking, dancing, etc.), the singers
are not always face forward in a static position. The orchestra sounded
consistently brilliant, but the singers sometimes were unbalanced, and
I found this to be most noticeable during some duet moments. Even then,
it did not bother me at all. It gave me an opportunity to think about
how difficult it must be to get great sound on a live broadcast! The
audio engineers are most impressive!

There are a couple of bonus
features I should talk about that I really enjoyed. As soon as the
curtains close, there are live cameras following people around
backstage, eavesdropping, catching glimpses of the complexity of the
backstage “goings on.” You could see the set changes (and this was a
totally cool set!), singers warming up, slugging down bottled water,
stretching, rehearsing fight scene choreography… I could go on and
on! And Renee Fleming interviewed the leads and Placido Domingo during
intermission! Fantastique!

The movie theater atmosphere was a
little odd. I was thrilled that I could eat popcorn at the opera,
however, during the Prologue, which is quite serious, I felt odd with
my popcorn and put it off until Act I and the Masked Ball. There were
other moments that it just seemed so inappropriate for me to be eating
popcorn! I was a little saddened that I was one of the youngest people
there, and I’m 40!!! I know so many people who would’ve really enjoyed
this experience and I want to encourage everyone to go to the next one,
Hansel and Gretel, on Jan. 1, 1pm. This opera is suitable for “children
8 and up, and some 7 year olds who aren’t afraid of the dark!”

One more note… buy your tickets early!!! Do not wait until the day of the show.”

The only theater in the Tampa Bay area to show this is the Regal 20 Cinema at Citrus Park Westfield mall. It is located on Gunn Hwy, just off the Veteran’s Expressway in NW Tampa. Tickets are $22 for adults on Fandango, with a $2 convenience fee. We could argue all day about whether or not it’s reasonable, but with Christmas shoppers taking a break at the movies today, I thought it was a bargain! Also, this event was sold out on line 2 days before, and they opened up an overflow theater. Do NOT wait to get your tickets.

This was a first-rate event. You will want to bring interested and well-behaved children, ages 8 and up, to see Hansel and Gretel on New Year’s Day! It’s going to be a great start to a wonderful year!