Haha! That was fun! Anyway, we took the girls to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival last weekend. I guess I have lived a sheltered life, because this was my first Renaissance festival, as well as the girls. It turned out to be a whole lot of fun!
It amazes me how much people get into this thing! I mean, the costumes alone have to cost a fortune. It was fun to interact with some of the characters, and Sassy talked for days about how she got to meet a real live fairy!
In fact, a fairy was one of the first things we saw when we entered. Sassy was a bit apprehensive, but all of the girls were mesmerized by her stories and they were just tickled that she invited them to the fairy dance at the maypole later in the day!
While we were in line for out first ride, the royal family happened to appear! They waited in line behind us. The guy operating the ride told us that we may have to wait because the royal family was slated to ride at 10:00, but the royal family graciously waited their turn and let us go first...
Sassy decided she wanted to ride the elephant, so I took her for the ride. It was fun... besides the fact that I have a huge problem with the mistreatment of these types of animals, I do not support the whole circus thing, and I pretty much felt guilty for the rest of the day. I don't know what possessed me to agree to it (maybe a cute-as-a-button 3-year old), but I just keep telling myself that the elephant was happy to give us that ride!
We came across another fairy, and this time, Sassy was brave enough to go up to her without being on Daddy's shoulders. The fairy had gold fairy dust that she gave each girl in her hand... very cool:
Then, she sprinkled some on their heads... not so cool:
Here we are, at least 4 baths later, and there is still gold glitter embedded on Sassy's scalp. Yeah.
She showed the girls how to blow their fairy dust to make a wish:
Sassy was a bit distraught by the whole process. She is the only 3-year-old I know that could have a handful of real fairy dust and a face like this to go along with it:
Thank goodness for daddies:
Next, we met a princess who was very fond of Little A. She warned us not to led the Vulgarians (or some clan... it sounded like Vulgarians to me) see her because they would likely take her as their own! Then, she proceeded to bestow upon Little A the gift of a pet rock named Harold. She originally intended to let Little A pet Harold, but Little A was quite fond of Harold, and she proclaimed that she could raise another.
Little A was pretty thrilled to welcome Harold as a member of our family! He's really my kind of pet!
Next, everyone decided it would be fun to ride this torturous ride where you enter a circular chamber, some shirtless men spin you up a pole, and then let go so that you un-spin at very high speeds. Vomit.
Little A chose to sit this one out. Smart girl, that Little A!
We found a woman who was selling ribbons- like the rhythmic gymnastics kind. The girls thought they were fabulous to try:
All of the sudden, we hear LuLu say tiger, tiger. Um... yeah. A tiger. Thanks for attracting him LuLu. We had the pleasure of conversing for at least 5 minutes with this "tiger". As I said, interesting folks at the ren fest!
Again, Little A was a bit of a skeptic. She's a smart one, my Little A!
We decided it was due time for some lunch... turkey legs, fried pickles, stuffed pretzels... and a Woodchuck cider for me. Delish!
We just had to make a sand art creation, as Lynzee's niece had made one the week prior at the fest, and that's all the girls had hoped for when they learned we were coming. Sassy made a very pretty bottle for her bedroom :
Then, it was off to face painting, which the girls just had to have as soon as they saw all the other little children walking around like canvases in the flesh. We obliged.
LuLu went for the goth look:
LMB went OTT (over-the-top):
Sassy chose a butterfly, and made sure to specify that she wanted it to match her pants. I'm sure Madame Vivien loved us!
Sassy loved her sparkly lepidoptera:
We caught a bit of the character parade- each clan/group walked together. There was singing, dancing, chanting... very neat!
And then, we saw them.
The wings.
Little girl fairy wings for sale.
I'll let you guess how many pairs of darling fairy wings were purchased by our sweet party of four...
We couldn't leave baby girl out:
And, how cute are a bunch of little fairy friends?
I don't know... but I think Daddy's little fairy takes the cake...
I thought it was hilarious because the ren fest charges $8 admission per dog. Seriously?!? Anyway, there were plenty of people who took advantage. You know they things where you stick your head in the cut-out hole so it looks like you are part of the picture... I saw a woman taking a picture of her dog with his head through the hole. Wow! I did see something awesome, though. I ♥ big dogs. I grew up with Great Danes, and I just adore them. Well, there was a couple with three... yes, three Irish Wolfhounds at the fest. I have never seen one in person before. They were so beautiful! I want one now! This one was trying to take a bite of her pickle!
LMB decided to show off her face paint, up close and personal...
I just couldn't get enough of my precious fairy girl...
Sassy and Little A took a whirl at being mer-people. Much cuter than the dog, might I add...
And, we couldn't leave the fair without one last princess bauble... a butterfly wand. Because, you know... you just can't be a butterfly fairy without one...
It's become easy to see how we spent a small fortune at the ren fest this year- but we brought home some great memories! I can't wait to go back again next year!
2 sweet tweets:
CUTE fairy wings =).
And yes, vomit indeed.
I enjoyed your blog about your festival visit, since I do Ren fests for a living- I don't do the KC one, though. I just wanted you to know that I know our elephant keepers very well- not the ones at your show, but at the festivals I do, and have been to their home and seen firsthand how they are kept- and I assure you these elephants are extremely well cared for and cherished. I have even seen them get pedicures! They have a lot of acreage at home and fresh air, good hay and veggies- they work weekends walking, or performing in circuses- not worked hard every day like in their native lands. My friends always have to fight to defend themselves from well meaning people who think they are mistreated because they are working animals, which is very frustrating for them. People don't consider that these animals are the base for their living and so of course they are treated very well- no one thinks how much it takes to keep these animals- not just money but a lot of effort and work. Permits, health inspections, their food, keeping curious people from endangering themselves, enormous transport costs, erecting huge tents for shade for them, constant monitoring 24 hours a day- you can't leave elephants alone-this family never eats out with all their members, someone stays behind. I see them hauling the poop in wheelbarrows to keep the tents clean, and spraying them down with hoses to wash them- They truly love their animals and while I can't speak for the ones at KCRF, I had to speak up and tell you the other side of elephant life- sooner or later they may not allow us to have them in this country, which will be sad for all of us. They have it better here than anywhere else in the world they could be, even in the wild they are in danger and must search for food. Just wanted to give a different perspective, and hope it makes you feel better about taking the ride.
Sorry to go on, but I just couldn't let it go....
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