Huzzah! It's That Time Again!

Ian really wanted a picture by this banner because it had the same design as the one sewn on his tunic.

Huzzah! It's that time again! A time to dress up in psuedo-renaissance costumes! A time to gnaw on a turkey leg with impunity! And a time to take in the reek of patchouli! As is our custom, we packed the boys into the car, packed a lunch complete with snacks and drinks, and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Todd Mission, Texas for the Texas Renaissance Festival.

The boys each wore their tunics and for once the day dawned very cool with showers hitting us along the way. The theme for this particular weekend was Octoberfest, not necessarily one we would have chosen, but a soldier I work with had given us two free adult tickets for this particular weekend and since the themes are only partially followed anyway, it wasn't a big deal. When we entered the festival, we all sat down to lunch. We decided this year we were going to try a bunch of things we hadn't done in previous years.

One of the things we hadn't tried was swinging in the giant swings they had on the far side of the festival grounds. We all strapped in and just about everyone was feeling sick by the end of our ride.

We checked out the animal rides and saw they had increased in price again. It started to drizzle a little and we noticed the maze. In previous years, the maze had always seemed like a bad idea because it isn't shaded and it has always been glaringly hot. With it being cold out and raining a little, the maze was perfect for the boys. We wandered through it and got to the center where a bell was affixed to a tower. The boys had fun ringing it. Note in the following pictures that the hair being plastered down was from precipitation this time and not sweat!

At the front, you could climb up to the top of a guard tower and look out over the grounds. The boys clambered around and had fun.

Liam decided to act out the scene from Labyrinth where the big red monster "calls the rocks." He started howling.

Near the arena used for jousting they had a ride where kids could joust on their horses and use a lance to knock rings at the base of the hill. Liam had a great time with it.

Ian was next, and was pretty excited to give it a try.

Miles was last and had a great time doing it as well.

After each of the kids got a chance to try out jousting, we went to the arena and watched the joust. Our knight was the blue knight, and Ian wanted to cheer for the red knight, (the boys have an Imaginext knight action figure that is their favorite also.) So, I told him we didn't have to cheer for the blue knight, he could cheer for the red. Which he did.

We all had a great time. the only part that Lisa and the boys did not enjoy was when we had a scantily clad fairy glitter bomb us. Ian was outraged and said "Ahh! I have girl stuff on me now!" Lisa was outraged too, saying that in a world of Anthrax and other problems, that kind of action is highly inappropriate. On our way back to the car, Miles fell asleep. We all packed up into the car and at dinner in College Station at Texas Road House. We got home shortly after and the boys went to bed talking animatedly about all that they saw.