Ren Fair with Uncle Jon and Gram

Our Thanksgiving week began with a trip to the Renaissance Festival outside of Houston on Saturday.  Uncle Jon had come up a day or so before and we all rode to the Ren Fair together.  (This was much, much, much nicer for Jeremy and Jon in the front seat than it was for me in the back, but I am very committed to brotherly bonding.)

Gram joined us at the Ren Fair and we spent the day together.

The adults opted not to dress up.  Jeremy and I are planning on one day investing in proper costumes, but this year, with our waist lines in flux, we opted to not.  We did, however, make sure the kids had nice costumes.  I think John looked adorable and Sydney was absolutely breathtaking.  This of course meant that I had to take many pictures of them both.

It was mostly just fun to look at all of the folks in their really elaborate costumes.   We saw a couple of guys in “Steam Punk” gear that was visually stunning.  We found some Vikings who had found a clever way of attaching pouches to their shields in order to hold modern conveniences like cell phones and money.  We also saw a Starfleet commander.  So I walked over to him and said, while look inconspicuously away and not making any eye contact, “If you are here to observe the natives, you really ought to be wearing more primitive clothing.  A message from the admiral.”

 

 

Beyond the people watching, we all just enjoyed the walking around and the time traveling feeling that Ren Fair gives you.  The kids rode some rides.  The adults enjoyed some beverages.  We all looked through many shops.

Gram bought Sydney a special crown to go with her beautiful dress.

Gram then bought John a sword and joked about her use of gender roles to determine gifts.  Jeremy bought Sydney a sword so she could fight her brother.  To even things out, Uncle Jon bought a sword to give to Will the next time, and in the meantime, Uncle Jon tried it out to make sure it worked and all.

And then Sydney had a lesson in why, even with a foam sword, we don’t hit as hard as we can.

Luckily, Uncle Jon and Jeremy were able to demonstrate for the kids the way to do proper sibling sword fighting.

It was such a fun day.  We were all exhausted at the end, but so very glad we went.

I was especially glad that Jeremy and Jon got to have that experience together and that Gram got to share it with her boys.