Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Renaissance Festival

Pin It Now! President's Day would have ordinarily been a school day for us, but since Mark was off we decided to go on what we thought would be a fun and educational field trip.

Weeks ago Mark brought home a pamphlet advertising the annual Renaissance Festival, which immediately got my attention since we spent the first semester in history studying that very subject. I thought it would be the PERFECT way for our family to have a fun day together while calling it a field trip at the same time!!! According to the little advertisement , the festival looked like a very family friendly atmosphere, so I was game.


Some of the first sights were of cute little shops and folks dressed up according to that specific time period. Unfortunately most woman were going a bit too far with the whole tight corset thing. Judging by this particular event, I would have to make the assumption that most women from the Renaissance were floozies, but anyway, trying to get past all that we decided to see our first "show".

Shows without the "LC" label (Loose Canon) were supposed to be suitable for children, so obviously we picked one without the "LC". It was supposed to be a pirate show, which we thought the boys might enjoy. Oh my, there really wasn't anything pirate-y about it except for the dress and burly accents. It was more of a stand up comedy act with coarse joking--not family friendly in my book. Poor Mullin, I could tell he just wanted to get out asap. So, trying not to make too much of a scene, we skedaddled the heck out of there. I guess what really offends me is that so many people think that the only entertainment pleasing to adults has to be crude. Bleh.
Honestly, our spirits were soaring into a deep dark pit and fast, but we decided to try and make the best of a not so wonderful experience, so how could we go wrong with rides? The cool dragon wrapped around the castle is actually a slide. After paying for Lincoln to go up, he chickened out. Oh well. Okay, moving on...

Shiloh and I had a magnificent time on the big horsey. Score!!!!

The jousting tournament proved to be interesting as well. All I could think about was how hot those actors must have been in those suits of armor!!!!


After the jousting, we were beginning to get hungry, and poor Shiloh was coughing a lot. But the kids wanted to go on just a few more rides...



Mullin was inspired by the previous event, so he took a stab at some jousting himself.



Lincoln thought this looked fun, too. It is much harder than it looks. I think there was a ring or something they were supposed to capture with their lance.



Last, Lincoln and Shiloh rode the Leonardo Da vinci. Mullin was first to notice the backwards handwriting, which Da vinci was known for. Okay, good. He is paying attention in history!!!



Lincoln and Shiloh pulled on the ropes to make the wings flap. Hmmmm. A ship with wings. And round and round they went. Faster and faster! Whee, what fun!




Well, we did our best to make lemonade with the enormous lemon we'd been handed, but I will admit, I think the Renaissance is better left in the book. That will definitely be our last trip to the festival.
By the end we were starving, so we relaxed and ate between the familiar, beautiful, golden arches. Nothing beats those classic cheeseburgers and french fries!!! Mark captured our visit on his camera phone, and of course, those photos were immediately uploaded to facebook for all to see.


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