Renaissance Faire

On May 22nd we took a trip down to the Ct renaissance faire! This was my first time to a faire like this, so I had no idea what to expect. I guess I had visions of everyone being in costumes, and our family sticking out like a sore thumb because we were in our modern day clothes! I was so relieved when we got there and I saw that there were plenty of people not dressed up! (I know it's silly that I was worried about this...but I really was!! haha!) There were a lot of people dressed up still though, which made people watching really fun!

Once inside the faire we walked around a bit, stopping to grab water to make the twins bottles, and to try to see the jousting tournament (with the area so thick with people that only Lily could see anything sitting on our shoulders!). We stopped to watch a cute play that used kids from the audience to act out the parts (princesses and knights). We tried to convince Lily to be a princess, but she was too shy! After the play was over she finally declared that she wanted to be a princess in the play, so we promised her we'd come back for the next show.

After the play Lily stumbled upon one of her favorite parts of the faire. There were these hammock swings that you could test out. Lily fall in love with them, and kept wanting to come back!



After letting her hang out a bit we went on a search for some food for lunch. We quickly found hot dogs for Sean and Lily, but I had trouble finding something since I only eat chicken and turkey (and the idea of eating a turkey leg kinda grosses me out!). It was really crowded where all the food was, and I spied a tent with Thai food at the end of the row of food tents. Not what I would imagine at a renaissance faire, but it'll do! Sean got in line for the hot dogs for himself and Lily, while I took all three girls into the dining tent to watch a Celtic band, The Rogues. Lily LOVED watching them! She's developed a love for drums, and was just giddy to see them playing the bodhran.

Watching the show:

Sean brought Lily her hot dog while we were listening to the music, and then went out to see what was at the thai tent. After a long while he still wasn't back, and the drums were getting pretty loud for the girls, so we left to go look for him. We found him on his way back to the tent with a plate of pad thai for me. He was in line the whole time. I feel horrible that he missed the music getting me lunch! If I had known the line was so long, I would have found something else! The icing on the cake...the pad thai was pretty disgusting! Oh well, that's what I get for ordering Thai food at a renaissance faire! I just feel so bad Sean waited all that time in line for it! Sorry again honey!

While I ate, Sean took Lily over to an area that had lots of games like hula hoops, devil sticks, stilts, and joggling balls. Lily loved this area too, and we kept coming back to it! She had fun with the hula hoops this time:


After playing with the hoops, it was time for the kids play to start another show, so we headed over there again...talking it up with Lily that she could be a princess. She was all excited about it, until she saw the hammock swings again, and wanted to try them out again. After a quick swing, we got her to keep moving onto the play. Once we got there though and tried to encourage her to join in with the other girls dressing up as princesses, she got shy again! She just wanted to go back to the swings. What the lady wants, the lady gets! (In this instance at least!)



I really wish we had a big tree to hang one of these in our yard! I would have loved to bring one of these home with us! They looked so comfy!

Next we headed over to the pony ride area. While waiting for our turn to put Lily on a horse, Lily fell in love with a little brown pony. She kept saying "Look at the chocolate pony!" I was worried that we were on the verge of a melt down when they put a white and light brown pony named Archie on for Lily, but she was happy as a clam to ride any pony! I was relieved when the handler walked next to Lily the whole time, making sure she stayed on. Lily had a blast talking to the lady about Archie! She loved her pony ride!

First time on a pony:



Quick hugs with Daddy after her pony ride:



Right next to the horses was a small petting zoo with sheep and goats. This was right up Lily's alley! She had so much fun feeding the animals! I think the pictures tell much more than my words can:







I think she would have stayed with these goats the rest of the day if we let her! But we moved her along, and we made stop #2 at the games area. This time Lily tried out the stilts, with my help. I held the rope tight for her, and walked right behind her, helping her keep the stilt to her feet. Here she is trying it out by herself:


She also gave the joggling pins and balls a try...but not as they were intended to be used! She made up her own way to play with them...golf! She used the ball as the ball (naturally), and the pin as her club.

We then went to watch the may pole dance. The girls were getting antsy to eat again, and to get out of the stroller, so we made a spot for ourselves on the grass and watched the gypsies guide guests with the may pole dance.

Proof that the twins were with us:


Ella was more interested in her toes than her bottle. She was just so happy to be out of the stroller for a while!


Lily, Violet and Daddy watching the gypsies belly dancing:


While watching, Lily spied a lollipop on the wagon next to us. She kept sneaking over to it. Took us a while to figure out why she was so interested in the wagon! Nothing gets by Lily though!

Pointing out the lollipop to us:


Lily really enjoyed watching the dancers though! She got up with them on their last song (they invited people to come learn some of the moves with them). This one lady was so sweet and danced with Lily:

After they finished dancing, this lady let Lily try out her finger symbols, and was trying to teach her how to play them! Her daughter, who's also in the gypsy troupe, sat and played with Lily too! The two of them were so nice to give Lily this special attention! I think this was my favorite moment of the day!





Lily's hand was too small to play the symbols on one hand though, and was really struggling with it. All on her own she figured out her own way to play them!



I wish I had gotten these ladies names, because they were so sweet with Lily, and really made a memorable experience for all of us!

After playing with the gypsies, we wondered around a bit more. Sean really wanted to try out archery again, since he use to practice as a child. I think he really had fun with that!


He did really well I think! He hit the bullseye twice, and the others were all very close! Guess he hasn't lost it!

We just wondered after that, a couple more stops at the games area, and hammock swings, and made our way back to the car. We had a really get time at the faire! I'm so glad we finally decided to give this a try! We will definitely be back for the fall festival!