Renaissance Faire

 Today we ventured to a land of fairies and medieval frocks...
The Midsummer's Renaissance Faire!

 We met the Queen.  Which is saying something, since the only Queen that they know is the Red Queen from Alice and Wonderland.  Otherwise known as the Mad-Mama-Queen.  I guess my reputation proceeds me?

So, yes.  This was the most docile of queenly Queens.  A pleasant surprise.

 There were corn dogs.  There were horses.  It was hot, so I may have hallucinated this part, but I do believe that there were acrobats jumping from horse to horse while doing flips (the acrobats, not the horses).  There were also giant pickles (to eat) and rope tricks (to watch) so it was generally agreed upon that the renaissance time period was kind of amazing.

 Of course, this taco is very hard to please.  The horses and stunt tricks did not impress him a whit.  The folding top on the water bottle, however, provided endless entertainment.

 We had entirely too much fun with these sun glasses.

 They are, it turns out, unbelievably fun to take off and put on.  Poking yourself in the eye is also a hoot.

 But the final result is actually quite charming.  And with only two teeth on the bottom, it's very 15th century peasant farmer.

 Highlight of the day:
Shooting a real bow and arrow.  It was so exciting that we're now talking about how to strategically place hay bales in the yard to create our own archery range.  The chickens have filed a formal complaint, and we're in dispute resolution at the moment.  More to come...

 He got a bulls eye!
Hooray!

 After a quick tutorial, S actually did really well, too.  She hit that metal breastplate with a rubber arrow and it made the most gratifying thunk sound.
Applause!
Applause!

 We met the Fairy Queen, who deemed them protectors of nature and gave them a magical wishing stone.

 N got knighted as a forest sprite to protect all living things on land and sea.  It remains to be seen if that includes siblings and/or a particular poodle, but I have high hopes.

 Can you catch the tacos doing the maypole dance?

 S got a bit overwhelmed (turns out they dance/run this very fast!) and so N was the only one who stuck it out through the whole dance.  It actually was sort of amazing to watch the pole get woven - it really works!

 Heading back home to the 21st century.  S was proud to display her baubles, bestowed on her by a lovely shopkeeper who wanted to take her picture in her lovely lettuce fairy costume.  A fair (!) trade, I say.
Do you remember that Paul Simon song Diamonds on the soles of her shoes?  This reminded me of that little tune when I turned around and saw her sitting like this.