Tag Archives: festival

Renaissance Festival

We were invited to the Renaissance Festival with Bobby and Sidney Youngs on Saturday.  I hadn’t been to the Festival in over fifteen years so I really didn’t know what to expect.  Sidney had told me that the kids could dress up in their finest princess and knight costumes and that Wilson should bring a sword.  The kids all dressed up:  Faith was a princess, Wilson was a king, and Miller was a pirate.  Wilson looked the best donning a crown and a king’s robe.  As soon as we walked in the front entrance a wandering employee taught the boys how to sword fight.  I don’t think he knew who he was up against….

IMG_3263.JPG

If you like to people watch then the Renaissance Festival is for you!!  I had no idea that grown men dressed up in Shakespearean/pirate/knight costumes.  Some of them had to have spent a lot of money on these costumes.  There were also lots of fairies, wenches, and boobs popping out of corsets. It was a sight to see.  It was difficult to tell who worked there and who was just in the spirit of things.

The kids loved the rides.  They were all simple rides that worked without electricity – just muscle.  The kids did the trampoline jump, the pirate ship ride, and a few other things.  I was thankful that we didn’t have to spend money on tickets to get in, because we still spent a bunch on rides and ice cream.

My favorite part of the day was the sword swallower who named himself “Tom Celectomy”.  haha.  That man coulD” do some crazy stuff.  Not sure how he was able to hammer a nail into his nose that was parallel to the floor, but he did.  He also swallowed numerous swords, a balloon and had a very quick sense of humor.  When Tom-celectomy asked who was a doubter, my Grandmama raised her hand.  Inevitably,  he called her up to the stage to help prove that he was really swallowing a sword.  It was so funny and Grandmama was a great sport.  It was so out of character to see her up on stage with a sword swallower, laughing and playing along.  She did a great job.  In the end he actually swallowed a long, blown up clown balloon that was three feet long.  It was totally disgusting and made me want to throw up!  I literally began to gag.  Yes, even with the gagging, it was my favorite part of the day…

 

 

IMG_3268.JPG

IMG_3270.JPG

 

Here is Miller and Grandmama walking the streets together…

IMG_3274.JPG

 

Faith, Jesse and Wilson watching the jugglers…

IMG_3277.JPG

 

One of the biggest attractions was the joust.  Three different men jousted each other and determined a winner.  The boys, specifically Wilson, loved this part.  The men rode a horse towards each other with the javelin aimed at the others’ shield.  They got points if the shield broke, the javelin broke, or the shield stuck to the javelin.  Our blue knight lost but it was fun to watch….

 

 

 

IMG_3278.JPG

 

After the joust was break for ice cream and then home.  We were all tired from walking most of the day and we ended up carrying half of the kids on the way back to the car.  A great day outside as a family enjoying our friends’ company.

IMG_3280.JPG

IMG_2785.JPG

Charlotte Beer Festival

Last month Sidney alerted us that there was a Groupon for the Charlotte Beer Festival. Sidney’s idea was that we would go with her and Bobby and Doug and Jacqueline. It was a great idea! For $10 a person we could go on a triple date and drink many types of micro brew beer. My parents offered to watch our children and let then spend them night. Perfect!

The six of us rode uptown together to the EpiCenter, which is a three story outdoor mall with bars and restaurants. The beer festival was held outdoors on two of the floors. It was much more crowded than any of us anticipated. I guess now that we are all older and out of the “scene”, we forgot that young people flock to places that allow you to drink as much as you can in four hours. :).

There were over seventy different beers represented at the festival, one DJ and a band. We did try many of the beers but I doubt we got to them all. It was a beautiful day to be outside with friends.

Here are the six of us ( we don’t know the guy in red behind us…photo bomb)

20140601-120851-43731886.jpg