Our swingset has a little wooden “fort” at the top of the slide which is about 5 feet long on a side. That’s plenty of room for a few little kids, or even two kids and one grown up. Two grown-ups and two children, however, is quite crowded.

Consequently, C & I were in the fort pretending to be on a boat while J & N were down in the grass playing.

At one point, J looked up and said “Hello in the boat!”

C started to reply with hello, but I interrupted with a whispered “In boats, you’re supposed to say ‘Ahoy!’ instead of ‘Hello!’” Then I looked over the edge of the fort and shouted “Ahoy, Momma!”

She laughed and shouted “Ahoy!” back.

C thought for a second and then shouted “Ahoy, Me Hearties!”

Yes, we have been reading a fair number of pirate books lately. Even so, it took us by surprise. We clapped for the new vocabulary word.

I believe that’s what you’d call premature clapping.

Why do I say that? Well, a little while later, J went inside to get some hot dogs for the grill. N toddled along after her, naturally. C saw them leaving and pointed them out to me, shouting ”Oh No! Where’d me hearties go? Where are me hearties?”

When J came back out with the hot dogs C pointed to her again. “There’s one me hearty! There’s one!”

And when N appeared shortly thereafter, C crowed triumphantly “Two! Two Me Hearties!  All me hearties are back!”

I’m all for pirate lingo, but I’m “Heartie”‘d out. Tomorrow, I think I’ll try to move us to “Avast there!”