Renaissance Festival

We went to the Renaissance Festival this past Friday. It's the one Friday of the season they hold it and it is also their school day, which for us meant discounted tickets...whoopee! Neil and I have gone many times but this was a first for the kids. Unfortunately Payton wasn't feeling well with an upset tummy, but she managed to enjoy herself despite it. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees, not bad for the end of September. We took in a few shows, saw two glass blowing demos, tried our hand at juggling, rode an elephant, watched a jousting tournament, perused the many vendors and ate lots of yummy food...whew, no wonder we were tired. Here are a few pics from our day.


One of the many colorful characters we came across.
















Here the kids are trying to learn how to juggle using crystal sticks...it didn't go very well.

Joe, Payton and I got to ride on the giant elephant, Neil declined. Joe got to cross two things off his Life-To-Do-List; see a live elephant and ride it.

The jousting tournament was a highlight for us all. Dang, those guys really pummel each other!!

Payton enjoying herself.


Joe giving us his best pose of some sort.

The Mud Show, always good for some laughs and attempts not to throw up. The finale is when one of the guys eats mud, yep...that's right.

Here was one of the most charming and adorable characters we kept coming across. She had such expression in her face, and quite the accomplished double flute player. We believe her to be a wood nymph or faerie but since she didn't speak...we never found out for sure.