Renny Faire

If you want to find our family next August, this is where we will be:

Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire


Click the title link for pix far superior to anything I could generate. I took the two larger kids, and left P-Daddy with Thumper at home. It was very unpleasant: hot, arid, noisy and dusty. We brought only water, peaches and some cheese puffs. But I couldn't get the kids to leave! They were in particular disturbed and fascinated by the fact that grownups dressed up in costumes. They see the adults in their life working working working, and I think they forget we like to play as well.

Next year we are totally camping. Did I mention it is a wee 2 minutes (if that) from our house?

N took this pic, which I think is the best of the day:



Is this the Dude who lives under the bridge? Yes, there was a troll bridge. And a machete-juggling fire eater. And real horses in real joust. Elves and fairies. Pirates. It was a trip. That's .... it was freaking awesome! Take Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and Braveheart, mix it all together and toss it onto 15 acres in the middle of the woods.

The whole theme to it (this is what kicks it for me, and if you know me....) is that this is a shire from the 1600s in SCOTLAND. So lots of kilts as well. People. For a diversion, it just doesn't get any better than that! There was the big giant Scottish clan gathering last month on the other side of the county, so we had many authentic, drunken Scots wandering about, amidst the fairies and the gypsies.

G learned how her precious Atocha coin was made, as they had a coin stamping booth. They showed the kids the blanks, and then rang the bell before the huge hammer fell. BAM! Out came the newly minted coin. G FREAKED OUT, wanting, craving, having to have one of those coins. (Mind you, she doesn't scream or rant or whine in these situations, in case you're picturing the kid from the mall last week. She just pleads with her eyes and tells me these things verbally) I reminded her that she got the last coin and that if we got a coin today, it would be for N. In the 6 year old all must be fair world, that made sense to her.