Friday, August 01, 2008

Renassaince Faire and Trip Prep

Last year we went to the Renaissance Faire for the first time and the boys loved it. R had a blast fencing with the "champs" of the faire. This year he convinced his brother to have a dual with him. Both boys donned fencing gear and had two balloons taped to their masks. The person who popped both balloons of his opponent first won.


R was very excited about this opportunity to "fight" his brother -- usually he's told not to fight with his brother. On this day, we encourage him, even paid for him to fight with his brother. You can almost see his big smile through his mask.

On the other hand, I don't think T was too excited for the match. Maybe he knew that he didn't have a chance since his brother is taller, has longer arms, and won last year two times...


Nevertheless, they went at it....and R won after a good match.
M challenged me to a duo and I crazily accepted. Talk about a height/arm length advantage! He beat me mercilessly -- even when I did take a slice at his balloons, those darn things wouldn't pop!

The boys also participated in a Peter Pan sword fighting class (never mind that Peter Pan used a bow and arrow....he taught sword fighting that day.)


Both boys really enjoyed the class and really got into it. (T had a bit more fun doing this than fencing with his brother.) The man who was Peter Pan did a really good job at engaging the kids in the class.



After they completed their training, the boys fought the bad guy, Sheriff John. It was a good show/class.







During a magician show, R volunteered and was up on stage for about 15 minutes. He even cracked a joke or too -- what a shy boy! NOT!





Isle Royale Trip
For the next week, starting tomorrow, we will be heading to Isle Royale National Park for a backpacking trip. Yep, you read that correctly, I am going backpacking. I don't really see the need for carrying everything that you need on your back, but M does and I love him, so we're doing it. Isle Royale is a place that he talked about on our first date. He went there for a few years in a row with his youth group and he loved it. He used to always talk about how he wanted to go back and take is kids there when he had kids.

Originally, he was just going to go with the boys because I had no interest in going. After all, we're talking about backpacking here. Carry all you need on your back; sleep in a tent; poop in the woods. That's not for me. I'm not a priss by any means, but come on...poop in the woods! But, as they talked about it and I looked at pictures of the beautiful place, I began to get jealous. So, I'm going. We're not really hiking far at all -- only about 4 miles a day (with loaded packs). Now, I'm really excited about it. (By the way, I think that two of the camp grounds we're going to have pit toilets. I never knew I'd be so excited about outhouses in my life!)

  • I'm looking forward simply to making family memories..oh, and seeing moose.
  • T's looking forward to eating gorp and seeing the cool wild flowers and picking thimble berries and fishing.
  • R's looking forward to doing the day hike to Mt Ojibiwa because we'll be able to see Canada, and picking thimble berries.
  • M's looking forward to sharing his fond memories with his family.

By the way, R's birthday is tomorrow and he'll be 9. How many 9 year olds have been backpacking? Probably not too many...and even fewer have been to Isle Royale.

3 comments:

CaliforniaGrammy said...

The Renaissance Faire looks like it was a fun day. Howeever, you have me cracking up, almost rolling on the floor laughting at the description of your thoughts about backpacking, SS. You're hilarious. And I know you'll have a great time—you may never want to do it again in your whole entire life, but I guarantee you'll have fond memories of this family outing.

Just be safe and have a great time, all of you! See you soon.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Not "howeever" . . . that, of course, should be "however" ... oops!

A.J. said...

How fun reading this blog and seeing the great photos with the great expressions on those boys' faces.
Can't wait to hear about your backpacking trip, what a trooper you are! I hope you get to pick alot of thimble berries!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY R-BOY! I remembered, and I thought of you! NINE! Yikes! And nine is my lucky number too!