Apparently, I’m a glutton. Last fall, Holly tricked me into taking the kids to the State Fair on the busiest day of the event. That was fun.
But for last weekend’s adventure, I have no one to blame but myself. I only recently discovered that every spring the Scarborough Renaissance Festival is held about 30 miles south of Dallas. Holly was out of town all weekend (driving to Ithaca, NY–definite fun), so I had to find something to occupy the kids. So we decided to head down on Saturday, though Emma needed assurances that there would be more to do than there was at the Civil War re-enactment. (Okay, so I just re-read that paragraph–not a lot of flow there, but I think you get my drift, eh?)
So we got there, and one of the first things we did was sword fight–with foam-padded plastic sticks. And when I say “we,” I mean Emma and Layla because Madysen and Speed were too cool for it.
The poorly lit fight was a draw
Then we watched a glassblowing demonstration. Layla became upset during the demonstration when her camera battery died after the first picture. She had recharged the batteries the night before–except that they weren’t rechargeable batteries. That doesn’t work so far.
Doing something with glass (another great iPhone picture)
Then we really got things going. Layla rode a camel around a twenty-foot circle, while the rest of the group rode an elephant (with an additional rider). Unfortunately, during the loop preceding, the elephant stopped to do his business. That would have been a great photo. On the kids’ loop, the elephant drank water for about five minutes. Not quite as funny.
Layla and the camel
Emma, Madysen, Speed, and a stranger on the elephant
We spent a while wandering around in the various merchants. I tried on a kilt and threatened to buy it; the kids were horrified. We ate traditional Renaissance-era food–cheese pizza, baked potato, red beans and rice, and turkey legs. They had Guinness, so I can’t really complain.
Layla successfully stuck the ring on her first pass
The turtle race was thirty minute of pre-race and fifteen seconds of actual turtle movement–far too long for me
Just before I started to loose my patience with the entire adventure, Layla and Emma rode this flying dragon. It never got all that high. Nevertheless, both boys next to Emma felt queasy, though neither got sick–thankfully. But the real entertainment was two twin boys sitting across from Emma and at the opposite end of Layla’s row. They were about 3 years old–and they screamed terrified screams the entire ride. Not their best day.
Emma in the yellow shirt at the top
Layla, in the middle, is bored despite the blood-curdling screams
Okay, so it was worth doing, though we won’t be buying season passes.
