Medieval Faire



We told the kids we were taking them somewhere fun, but we didn't tell them where.  We drove into what seemed like the middle of nowhere outside Bowlingreen and parked in a big field.  We then loaded a school bus that shuttled us up to Clayshire Castle.  We had no idea what to expect, but we were curious about this castle for a long time because we always would pass a sign for it on the way to my dad's house.  Kyle happened to see that they were having a Medieval Faire this particular weekend and thought the kids would love it.  We were so right.  We had the best day.  We toured the castle, saw all kinds of interesting people dressed in medieval garb and ate some pretty tasty food.  One of the highlights was watching a Punch and Judy show.  The kids loved it especially.  It was fantastic.  We also bought a set of four swords for duals in the backyard at home.  

 

Evangeline is such a sweet and protective big sister.  She took Jed...Sir Jed through the hedge maze and over heard a few people saying, "aww, look at the baby knight".  She knows how sensitive Jed is about being called a baby so she promptly got him out of there. She told me that she knew that would upset him. 

 

The castle bed and breakfast was so cool!  I am determined to stay there someday!

 

There sweet little faces during the Punch and Judy show....

 

 

Ohhhh, this guy gets me right in the heart.  He is just so so so cute. 

 

 

 

The swords have been worth every penny. 

 

And of course this strapping fella of mine had to try his hand at ax throwing.  And of course he got a bull's-eye.  And of course now he's talking about setting up some kind of ax throwing rig in the yard at home. 

Evangeline really enjoyed the fairy ring and the fairy games.  She made a mushroom to add to the ring. 

She was ready to spend her whole life's savings on a cloak.  She's asking for one for Christmas.  

 

We spent about 5 hours there and we were all pretty tired, but we couldn't be that close to Dad's house without paying him a visit.  We stayed long enough for Evangeline to pick apples and collect a few persimmons and Jed picked some peppers. 

 

When Jed woke up from his nap he said several times, "I want to go back to that special place".  And Evangeline said, "I knew today was going to be fun, but I didn't know it was going to be that fun!"  It was a perfect day. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheer Clinic

Evangeline has always enjoyed the cheer clinic that the high school cheerleaders put on.  She has participated every year.  It always amazes me too because she really shows no interest in dance or cheerleading, but by golly, she gives it her all at the cheer clinic, with all the confidence in the world.  It's so much fun to watch her and her friends.  They were looking so grown up out there on the field. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Festival

Fall Festival weekend is always so much fun (and exhausting).  We went Friday evening for dinner because Kyle had to work the Rotary tent.  That night Savannah and Lily spent the night at our house. 

 

The weather was absolutely beautiful this year.  It was actually chilly and we ended up having to bundle up for the parade.  Jed was so excited about the festival this year.  He talked about it the whole week before.  He had so much fun collecting "dumb balls" a.k.a, dumb dumbs that we thrown out at the parade.  The Hwangs came and Peggy's brother, Steve also came.  It was just a really fun time. 

Another very exciting part of the weekend was when Evangeline came to my room after school the Friday of the festival extremely excited because she and another boy were chosen to have their artwork represent their classroom in an art contest held by the Gaslight Art Colony.  The students from her class voted on their favorites and hers was one of the two chosen.  From there, all the classes from her grade had two pieces of artwork on display at the Colony for the public to vote on.  That evening they announced the winner from the bandstand and Evangeline won for the whole 4th grade!  The prize was a huge art set and an ice cream sundae party for her whole classroom.  She was counting down the days for this ice cream party.  She said that all of her classmates clapped for her and she got to be the line leader for the day.  It was very special.

There was also a member's art show going on at the colony and Peggy had a few pieces of her art hanging in the show.  I'd say they are pretty impressive, especially since she just took up painting a month or so ago. 

The girls also signed up for a painting class....it was a very artsy weekend.

 

 

Jed enjoyed being pushed around and observing all the goings on until he spotted the light up plastic light sabers.  That's when he slid under his stroller tray, bolted through a crowd of people, shoplifted a light saber, took off with it down the street, was chased by Kyle and proceeded to have a fit of a lifetime when we took it from him.....what did we do?  We bought it for him, of course...parenting win!

 

Jed was OBSESSED with this light saber. 

 

We celebrated Peggy's birthday with a fish bake on Sunday with fish Steve caught in Lake Michigan.  It was delicious.  Jed was so captivated with Steve's fishing boat and the idea of going fishing that Steve and Peggy took Jed out in the boat one day before Steve went back to Kentucky.  He had the best time. 

 

 

Whale Watching

We took Jed to eat at the lake while Evangeline was at a sports event.  He was so well behaved...a stark contrast from last year when we tried to take him there.  It resulted in me leaving with Jed and Kyle bringing my food home in a to-go box.  I think that was the last time I was there come to think of it.  After dinner we walked around on the docks and around the lake.  Jed was searching for whales and talking about Jake Sharp (Beatrix Potter).  He didn't want to leave.