Better late than never? Here's the write up from last weekend's trip to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. We left the house just before 10:00 am and headed north. The trip was uneventful with the exception of missing a turn (twice) and having to make a 10 mile round-trip detour to get to the festival grounds.
Parking was free and we got in and parked quickly. It was probably about 1/2 mile walk from the parking spot to the gates. Along the way, the girls posed for this picture. We went over to the ticket booth and I asked for one adult and two child tickets. The lady said, "That's $44.80, please." I just stood there looking at her. I didn't reach for my wallet. After about 5 seconds, she said, "Oh, wait..." and she looked up at some chart that they had on the wall.
Then, she said, "That's $35,80. Sorry." I'm sure it was an honest mistake... maybe. After getting our tickets, we walked through the arched doorway into this other magical world where people wear costumes despite the fact that they don't work there. A world where the costumes include masks that are purely the product of our imaginations, and not at all related to the way that people dressed back in those days. Swords adorn the sides of attendees and people run around tossing "Pixie Dust" in the air.
To the right, after you walk through the gates, is the main row of buildings where there's plenty of opportunity to shop and eat. There's really only one "traditional" food at these festivals - that I'm aware of. That would be the roasted turkey leg. They hand them over with the bone wrapped in aluminum foil and the rest of it sticking out for you to gnaw on. I've never bought one. If you know me, you know why.
The first attraction we came upon after making a B-line for the priveys was the Zuccini Brothers. It's a juggling/comedy act and they're quite entertaining. We didn't catch the first part of it so some of the running-jokes that they create during the show went right over my head.
On the ride to the fair, Bubbles had told me about a "White Lady" that doesn't move until something something yadda yadda. I didn't understand what it was that she was trying to say. We found her right after we left the juggling act. She's a "live statue". She stands still until you put a dollar in her basket. Then, she sprinkles pixie dust on your head and her assistant hands you a scroll of some sort.
We walked away from the statue lady and as we stood off to the side trying to decide what to do or what to see next, a parade of merchants went past us.
Just behind us, there was a bar with a neat mural on the wall. Bubbles and Bunny asked to have their picture taken in front of the mural. Directly to the left of that bar was this sign. It was printed at the Department of Redundancy Department
.
Next, we just walked along looking at the shops. I'm not sure what was going through the girls heads as they looked at all of the costumes and bizarre merchandise in each of the shops. All I can tell you is that the thought running through my mind was "If you wouldn't buy it at home, don't buy it here." That makes saying "No." so much easier. At the end of the main street, they had trampolines set up with bungee things.
Bubbles asked if they could do it. My initial reaction was, "No." Then, I lightened up a bit after I saw how long they were letting each kid play on the bungie/trampoline.
For $5.00, each kid got about 8 or 9 minutes of play time. Bubbles went first. They strapped her in and she had a grin on her face the whole time. She had done this with Aunt Sandra a few months ago and she talked about it for days after. First, they lift them up using a motor to pull the lines tight. Then, the attendant grabbed Bubbles's legs and pulled her down 3 times. Each time she pulled her successively further down. On the third pull/bounce, the lady let go of her legs and shot her up into the air.
It was on the second pull/release that Bubbles did her first back-flip. It was impressive
Next, it was Bunny's turn. Same routine. Strapped in, and ready to go! She appears to close her eyes as the lady is getting ready to launch her. I hope she opened them when she was up in the air! And, again, on the second pull/release, we got a back-flip! Bunny's wasn't quite as smooth as Bubbles's, but Bubbles has lots of years of experience with gymnastics and cheer. Bunny does not.
I figured we were done with doing things that could make you spill your lunch, so I decided it was a good time to grab something to eat. We decided upon burgers. I got one and the girls split one. It turned out that I was wrong about being done spilling lunch. Bubbles and Bunny shared a plate and they had it sitting on the same ledge with mine. Unfortunately, they had their halves resting on the front and back of the plate. When Bubbles picked up her half, it left the other half perched on the plate beyond the tipping point and Bunny's burger hit the ground.
I tried to apply the 5 second rule, but that doesn't work so well in the dirt. Luckily, the meat of the burger landed on top of the bun and there wasn't much dirt on the bun. I tore off the pieces that had dirt on them and she ate the rest. I offered her any of my toppings that she wanted, but she said she liked her burgers plain any way. I stopped eating the fries at that point because I figured she could at least fill up on them if the burger wasn't enough.
As I stood there eating, I realized that the Zuccini brothers were about to start their next performance and we were only a few feet away from their stage. So, we wandered over and got seats near the front so that we could watch the portion of the show that we had missed, earlier. They really were quite funny and I'm glad we got to see the beginning of the show.
When that show had finished, it was about 30 minutes before the next jousting match and we really wanted to see that. We walked directly from the end of that show to the arena where they do the jousting matches When we got there, we stood at the end of the arena for a moment to see what was going on.
There was a falconer in the middle of the arena with some birds perched on a stand and he was talking to the audience about the birds. I couldn't make out what he was saying, so we made our way around to the center of the arena and got some really good seats about half-way up the stands at just about the middle of the arena. The falconer really knew his stuff and he taught us a lot about the birds. He had Red Tail Hawks and two different kinds of Falcons. He explained the reasons why each type of bird was used by the people who used them. He talked about the way they hunt and how they kill their prey. Really interesting stuff. I think the girls were really interested, too. They didn't talk or fuss the entire show. The falconer even demonstrated how the birds hunt by having them attack a lure which had a dead baby rooster attached.
After the show, he made himself available for questions and let people get up close to see the birds. Bubbles went down and took these pictures.
As you can see, she even got a shot of the guy's hunting dog. I'm not quite sure why the dog was there. She didn't DO anything but lay there the whole time. After the falconer left the arena, the jousting competition began. These guys weren't as good as the ones in Maryland when we went with Talix, but it was still a good show! They had four knights and they each went to a corner of the arena and proclaimed that that corner was their corner and that the people there had to cheer for him! Of course, we did. The theatrics are great. They really ham it up.
Our knight was a big burley looking chap representing Germany who went by the name, Ulrich. He was the reigning champion, don't you know? And, there will forever be dispute over this match as some will say that he was defeated and other will forever stand on the contention that the queen declared the winner too soon. Ulrich was simply knocked out and when he got up after the queen had declared the Scotsman the winner, he finished the fight by putting the silly Scot down.
After the jousting was done, they brought one of the horses to each corner of the arena so that the kids could touch and pet them. I was amazed at how calm that horse was with 30 dirty little hands reaching up to touch his face. He didn't flinch the entire time. That's good training, I suppose.
More fun was to be had in the kids area of the village. Not a lot more, but some.
I bought some ear cuffs for each of them. I love how independent these two girls are. They aren't always trying to out-do eachother and they aren't always trying to be like one another. They're each very different little girls and they each keep to their personality. Bubbles got the ear-cuff that goes over the top of the ear while Bunny got the one that goes on the side of the ear.
More freaks walking around...
We looked at the schedule and saw that there was a "Middle Eastern and Belly Dancing Troop" putting on a show on a stage that we had just walked past. We got there before the previous act had ended, though. That act was a gay pirate comedy act. I don't know if "gay" was part of the act, or if it was just something that the actors couldn't hide. They were clearly enamoured with eachother.
.
When the dancers came out, the best part was watching the guy in front of me zoom in on the dancer's boobs and snap a picture. He could care less about the dancing. And, after about 20 seconds, I couldn't care less about the dancing, either. They were horrible! We left about 1/2 way through the second dance. When we walked around the corner, there was another belly dancer doing her show, but this one had a snake on top of her head. We stayed and watched that troop until the 300 lb shirtless guy started doing a ribbon dance.
At that point, we decided we were done and it was time to go home. As we made our way to the exit gate, we spotted this guy standing on top of a fence post on one foot. He was trying to immitate a tree, I think. He had leaves as a mask and he had leaves in his hat. As he stood there, this little boy, about 2 years old, came over and poked at the guy's foot with his sword. The guy hopped down and played with the little boy by letting the boy chace him in circles around the post. Eventually, the guy had caught up to the back of the little boy and he tapped his shoulder and ran back around the post in the opposite direction. It was sooo cute.
The drive home was less exciting...
Betty Boop Sat Sep 22 03:52:55 PM I hope I get a race update soon - I've been waiting all day! And, you know how long my days are. Reply
BizB Fri Sep 21 08:03:39 AM Oh, and the PREVIEW link below the comment window is now working again. Reply
BizB Fri Sep 21 08:02:53 AM I'm telling you, the finish line battles are EPIC! Reply
coach td Thu Sep 20 09:39:05 PM Some of you are within driving distance? What does this girl need to do? Video is cool but you have to be there to watch 180 girls go for the same spot through the first turn. The struggles, the faces, the churning legs and arms that make up the final straight to the finish chute. Every parent, grandparent and yes even siblings cheering in their favorite athlete on to the finish. To someone who's never been there it may sound corny but it is total emotion when you see your runner round the final corner and begin their sprint. I'm lucky. I get to yell for 26 of them. Yours is having a breakthrough season to say the least. I can't tell you where she'll wind up but it won't be boring I assure you that. I promise to hold a spot for you at the finish. Reply
BigBro Thu Sep 20 04:03:35 PM I thought Onterio was the new povience way up north. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Or the other way round? Reply
sopops Thu Sep 20 02:49:01 PM Thank God he didn't try Saskatchewan. Thanks to spell checker I got it right Reply
Betty Boop Thu Sep 20 02:19:05 PM Big Bro - it is ONTARIO! Reply
BigBro Thu Sep 20 01:51:36 PM Sounds like a good thing for most of Canada, except for anyone who's job is tied to trade with the US. A possible loss of lots of Canadain autoworker jobs, as it becomes too expensive to pay their wages. This might hurt Onterio really hard. Reply
BizB Thu Sep 20 12:48:54 PM Errr... I mean October 6th at Maumee Bay Reply
BizB Thu Sep 20 12:27:18 PM BigBro & Froggy - If you're interested, there are 3 XC events left.
This Saturday at Scott Park
Saturday 9/29 at Lucas County Rec Center
Saturday October 3rd at Maumee Bay State Park (Championships)
Bubbles would really love to see you there. Her race generally starts around 9:30, or so.
Yesterday, on the drive back from practice, she said, "Wouldn't it be cool if I scored on Saturday? I think I'll try really hard to score. Who do I have to beat to score?"
I told her that she'd just have to be one of the top 5 runners and it isn't always the same 5 girls who score so it would be hard to say exactly who she would have to beat. I did tell her that if she could finish really close to Amy or J-Peep (coach td's daughter) she'd be sure to score.
I have no doubt that she can make this happen. I just don't want her to hurt herself in the process. J-Peep has about a foot height advantage on Bubbles and it's mostly legs. J-Peep is a runner, for certain. Reply
BigBro Thu Sep 20 11:58:23 AM I've a very short attention span... Reply
Betty Boop Thu Sep 20 11:00:56 AM What a wonderful story and such nice memories for both girls. I loved the last pic. Sweet.
I think I told you guys about the Sunday drive my family took when I was about 5 or 6. One of my sisters & I started squabbling; dad stopped the car and put us out then drive away. He did wait around the bend for us but we did learn not to do that again. Of course, in the 1940's there wasn't any danger from traffic and certainly no child molesters in NB to worry about. What a difference in Bubbles memories and mine! Reply
BizB Thu Sep 20 09:46:53 AM We went on Sunday. Saturday was our second Cross Country meet of the season. Don't you read the site? Sheesh! Reply
BigBro Thu Sep 20 09:40:19 AM Froggie was up there with some of her Girlfiends on Saturday. She mentioned the falconer and the jousting too. Great to actually see pictures. Did you Sat. or Sun.? Reply
Better late than never? Here's the write up from last weekend's trip to the 
To the right, after you walk through the gates, is the main row of buildings where there's plenty of opportunity to shop and eat. There's really only one "traditional" food at these festivals - that I'm aware of. That would be the roasted turkey leg. They hand them over with the bone wrapped in aluminum foil and the rest of it sticking out for you to gnaw on. I've never bought one. If you know me, you know why.
Just behind us, there was a bar with a neat mural on the wall. Bubbles and Bunny asked to have their picture taken in front of the mural. Directly to the left of that bar was this sign. It was printed at the Department of Redundancy Department
.
Next, we just walked along looking at the shops. I'm not sure what was going through the girls heads as they looked at all of the costumes and bizarre merchandise in each of the shops. All I can tell you is that the thought running through my mind was "If you wouldn't buy it at home, don't buy it here." That makes saying "No." so much easier. At the end of the main street, they had trampolines set up with bungee things.
Bubbles asked if they could do it. My initial reaction was, "No." Then, I lightened up a bit after I saw how long they were letting each kid play on the bungie/trampoline.
For $5.00, each kid got about 8 or 9 minutes of play time. Bubbles went first. They strapped her in and she had a grin on her face the whole time. She had done this with Aunt Sandra a few months ago and she talked about it for days after. First, they lift them up using a motor to pull the lines tight. Then, the attendant grabbed Bubbles's legs and pulled her down 3 times. Each time she pulled her successively further down. On the third pull/bounce, the lady let go of her legs and shot her up into the air.
It was on the second pull/release that Bubbles did her first back-flip. It was impressive
I figured we were done with doing things that could make you spill your lunch, so I decided it was a good time to grab something to eat. We decided upon burgers. I got one and the girls split one. It turned out that I was wrong about being done spilling lunch. Bubbles and Bunny shared a plate and they had it sitting on the same ledge with mine. Unfortunately, they had their halves resting on the front and back of the plate. When Bubbles picked up her half, it left the other half perched on the plate beyond the tipping point and Bunny's burger hit the ground.
I tried to apply the 5 second rule, but that doesn't work so well in the dirt. Luckily, the meat of the burger landed on top of the bun and there wasn't much dirt on the bun. I tore off the pieces that had dirt on them and she ate the rest. I offered her any of my toppings that she wanted, but she said she liked her burgers plain any way. I stopped eating the fries at that point because I figured she could at least fill up on them if the burger wasn't enough.
As I stood there eating, I realized that the Zuccini brothers were about to start their next performance and we were only a few feet away from their stage. So, we wandered over and got seats near the front so that we could watch the portion of the show that we had missed, earlier. They really were quite funny and I'm glad we got to see the beginning of the show.
As you can see, she even got a shot of the guy's hunting dog. I'm not quite sure why the dog was there. She didn't DO anything but lay there the whole time. After the falconer left the arena, the jousting competition began. These guys weren't as good as the ones in Maryland when we went with Talix, but it was still a good show! They had four knights and they each went to a corner of the arena and proclaimed that that corner was their corner and that the people there had to cheer for him! Of course, we did. The theatrics are great. They really ham it up.
After the jousting was done, they brought one of the horses to each corner of the arena so that the kids could touch and pet them. I was amazed at how calm that horse was with 30 dirty little hands reaching up to touch his face. He didn't flinch the entire time. That's good training, I suppose.
More freaks walking around...
We looked at the schedule and saw that there was a "Middle Eastern and Belly Dancing Troop" putting on a show on a stage that we had just walked past. We got there before the previous act had ended, though. That act was a gay pirate comedy act. I don't know if "gay" was part of the act, or if it was just something that the actors couldn't hide. They were clearly enamoured with eachother.
.
When the dancers came out, the best part was watching the guy in front of me zoom in on the dancer's boobs and snap a picture. He could care less about the dancing. And, after about 20 seconds, I couldn't care less about the dancing, either. They were horrible! We left about 1/2 way through the second dance. When we walked around the corner, there was another belly dancer doing her show, but this one had a snake on top of her head. We stayed and watched that troop until the 300 lb shirtless guy started doing a ribbon dance.
Betty Boop Sat Sep 22 03:52:55 PM 
BizB Fri Sep 21 08:03:39 AM 
coach td Thu Sep 20 09:39:05 PM 
BigBro Thu Sep 20 04:03:35 PM 
sopops Thu Sep 20 02:49:01 PM 