A stay-at-home dad who dressed up in a different costume every day to wave goodbye to his teenage son as he got on the school bus, capped the school year last week with perhaps one of his most inventive efforts yet.

Dale Price, of American Forks, Utah, donned a pirate outfit complete with eye patch and peg leg (he actually has a prosthetic leg), pistol and sword to wave goodbye to his mortified 16-year-old son.

Perhaps the most embarrassing dad of all time, Price also had a sign reading "It's been fun WAVING at THE BUS! Have a great SUMMER!"

That was Day 170 of Price's initiative to show his son Rain that he loves him, and to force him to start every day with a smile, whether he likes it or not.

One day earlier, on Day 169, Price dressed up in an all-white wedding dress, complete with veil and bouquet.

He has also impersonated Michael Jackson, a chicken, Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" (complete with sea-shell bikini) and her bearded mer-man father, King Triton, over the 170-day school year.

He also dressed up as Princess Leia from Star Wars, as a leprechaun, and on one especially mortifying morning he read the newspaper while sitting on a toilet in front of the family's home.

"I hope this lives with him for the rest of his life," the creative and committed dad told the Deseret News. "He can use it against his kids and tell them, 'If you think you are embarrassed by me, you should have seen your grandfather."

Rain said his dad started the initiative in June, on his first day as a high school freshman. While Rain told a local newspaper it was an embarrassing start to his high school career, both he and his fellow students learned to appreciate the effort.

Rain's mother, Rochelle Price, started a blog documenting her husband's efforts each day. In some of the photos Rain can be seen laughing from the bus window.

In a post titled "Clarifications and Explanations" she said the family spent less than $50 on the costumes, and that most were made from items found around the house, or were donated by friends and neighbours.

She described her son as someone who is "genetically predisposed to having a good sense of humor" and said he is a straight-A student about to qualify as a Boy Scout of America Eagle Scout, and is a member of an award-winning marching band.

She said her husband Dale is a "pretty decent mechanic, landscaper, housekeeper and trophy husband" on top of being an "amazing dad."

Rochelle ended the post by admitting that many of the costumes could not be described as being politically correct."

"We never claimed to be PC. For goodness sake, it's humour people. Good thing we aren't running for office of any kind," Rochelle wrote.