Renaissance Family

March 3, 2018: Arizona Renaissance Festival time!

The end of April is already upon us and I haven't even finished this blog post about our annual Renaissance Festival outing...which took place eight whole weeks ago! I did do a post about that weekend and events leading up to it (click HERE), but never quite got this part finished. Life gets in the way sometimes.

A brief recap: Jacob showed up unannounced from Utah and surprised me on a Tuesday afternoon (Feb 27). We spent the next few days enjoying family togetherness. Early on Friday morning, Jacob, Sarah, Chris, Mark, and I all drove to the Valley. We met with Mark's family lawyer (finally resolved Mark's inheritance of his grandmother's house almost seven years after her death), visited with my friend Gwen, met Dylan and Jake for dinner at Golden Corral (because they left home several hours after we did), and then drove out to Maricopa to visit with most of my sister Karla's extended family before retiring to our hotel rooms in Mesa sometime around 1:00 a.m.

The Royal Family greets the masses prior to opening the gates.

The rest of the tale picks up on Saturday morning, when we loaded our stuff back in our cars and checked out of the hotel at 8:30. Jacob, Dylan, Jake, and their friend Justice went straight to the Renaissance Festival and saved us a position in line near the entrance. The gates open at 10:00, and it's always best to be among the first through. That way you can enjoy relatively empty village streets for about thirty minutes, until the rest of the masses pour in.

Meanwhile, the rest of us had to stop by the lawyer's office en route to the festival to drop off a document that every member of Mark's family had to sign regarding his inheritance. Despite our brief stop, we were in line with the others for the general merriment by about 9:15.

Waiting to enter: Justice, Jacob, Dylan, Jake, Sarah, Chris, and Mark.

Once we were there, we were able to relax and soak up the atmosphere of silly fun and fantasy escapism that we love so much about the Renaissance Festival. It brings us back year after year!

Sarah and Chris at the Renaissance Festival. Chris fit right in

with the kilt he purchased during his 2-year LDS mission in Scotland!

Every year, Chris would get to the festival and then exclaim that he forgot to bring his kilt. But this year, he remembered! Many attendees dress in period costumes, from royalty to druids to wizards to wenches to pirates to gypsies to kilted highlanders.

One of my favorite buildings at the Festival. They sell

wands, wizard staffs, broomsticks, and walking sticks.

I did splurge on a couple of souvenirs, but not as much as in the past. I had an idea what I wanted to get on this visit and stuck with the plan.

The architecture at the AZ Renaissance Festival is pretty amazing.

We did seem to have chosen a good weekend. The crowds weren't quite as heavy as in past visits, and the weather was not as miserably hot as it often is. I think the temperature peaked in the low eighties.

Jacob walks the medieval streets of the festival.

Jacob picks on Dylan as he gobbles down frozen cheesecake-on-a-stick.

One of the great joys in my life is how much my kids love being together.

I was pretty good about sticking with my diet all day. Before we left home on Friday, I'd actually dipped a bunch of strawberries in chocolate for Sarah and me, then kept them in an ice chest in the car to enjoy after the Renaissance Festival closed at 6:30 p.m. That way, Sarah and I were able to avoid the tempting (and expensive) sweets at the chocolate shops. My strawberries kept quite well in the chest, and provided a delicious treat for us at the end of the day.

Stretched leather faces in one of my favorite shops, Grichel's.

More of Grichel's fanciful wares.

I love looking at the eccentric wares at Grichel's shop, though I've never bought anything there...yet. This time, though, I was looking at some eye-balled hair clips in a tray and Sarah asked me which one I like best. I picked up the only one that wasn't a solid color and said, "I like the colors and pattern of this one." Then I put it back and didn't think any more about it, until we stopped for lunch and Sarah placed the hair clip (see photo below) in my hand. She is the sweetest! I love that my children are all generous givers.

An unexpected souvenir for me!

When our day was ending and we were heading toward the gates, I asked Sarah why she hadn't gotten herself a souvenir. She told me nothing had really struck her fancy...except a little wagon selling tiny fairies, but we'd gotten distracted and left the area before she could decide whether to buy one. So I dragged her back to the wagon and had her choose the fairy she liked best, in a little cage. Now it was my turn to grant her wish!

A top view of Sarah's teensy fairy in her little iron cage.

The fairy sleeps on a bed of moss in her tiny cage.

Jacob, Chris, Dylan, Jake, and Justice learn how to spin a plate on a stick.

The one place where we probably spent the most time (and often do) was Juggler's Point, located in this distinctive hexagonal building. Every year it's something different. First, Jacob and Dylan both fell in love with crystal stix, in which you use two rubber-coated "stix" to control, spin, and juggle a decorated baton in the air. They each had to own a set that year. Then Dylan became enamored of contact juggling, in which you "juggle" a small, clear ball by rolling it around from hand to hand, along the arms, and otherwise directly on your body. Jacob gave Dylan a contact-juggler's ball as a Christmas gift that same year. Then I fell for a complex silver bracelet that spins up and down your arms (but did not give in to the temptation to buy one). Juggling balls, twirling hula hoops, all became skills for which the shopkeepers were willing to provide training. And then this year, the kids were taught how to spin plates on the end of a stick...with mixed success. 

A plate-spinning demonstration.

The little gypsy lady who taught the guys how to spin plates invited me to join in, but I said I was content to just take pictures at my advanced age. She sized me up, then said, "You're not that old. I'll bet I'm old enough to be your much older sister." So I looked her over, and then I laughed and said, "More like my much younger sister. I'm sixty-three." She literally did a gulp-gasp, then blurted out, "Oh wow! '63 was a good year...the year I was born!" Turns out she had recently turned fifty-five, so that was quite a boost to my self-image! She said she'd have guessed me to be late-forties. I like it!

Chris poses with a pirate and crew-mate in the mermaid show.

Sarah and Chris with one of the mermaids.

Everyone loves the mermaid show, despite the long line to walk through. But this day is all about the fun, so we do it! I'm never able to get any good pictures of the mermaids in their tank, though.

Dylan and Jake also pose with the mermaid.

A quaint tableau and little stream in the petting-zoo area.

Sarah and Chris feed a goat; Jake and Dylan in the foreground.

In all these years, we actually never knew there was a petting zoo at the Renaissance Festival. It's located on the side of the festival grounds that we never seem to reach until the end of the day, so there's never been enough time to fully explore the area. During this visit, though, I suggested that we hit that half of the festival grounds earlier so we could catch some of the shops and exhibits we've missed in the past. That's how we discovered the petting zoo.

Later, Jake and Dylan feed the sheep.

Being the major-league animal lovers that my kids are, they each bought food from a vendor so they could hand-feed the animals, and they had a great time. We spent quite a lot of time in this area, as well.

The Festival's resident Unicorn!

I hate spiders...unless they're made of crystals and beads!

I always have to stop by this cart. Someday I will buy myself a spider!

Instead of having my hair braided this year, I had it put up in my

"Majestic Hair Flower." Along with my circlet and roundlet, of course.

I got myself the little hair dangle (by my ear) of blue and white beads and

a tiny blue butterfly at the end. But I forgot to wear my pointy elf-ear cuffs!

For the last four years, I've made it a habit to enter the Renaissance Festival gates and head straight to the Twisted Sisters tent to have my hair braided first thing. This year, I did things a little differently. You see, at the end of the day last year, I came across a cart selling a complex but sturdy little hair holder called the Majestic Hair Flower. It can be twisted and turned into more than sixty shapes, twenty of which can be used to hold hair. (Apparently it can also be worn as a bracelet.)

I actually owned one of these contraptions already, which I'd gotten many years ago at a booth at our local Fall Festival Run-to-the-Pines car show. I do use it when I pull up my hair, on occasion, and I like it a lot. Well, the girls at the cart had told me last year that if I brought my Majestic Flower with me next time, they would put my hair up in it for free, as a demonstration for onlookers (hoping they'll be inspired to buy one). So that's what I decided to do this year.

Majestic Hair Flower, back view.

This meant I spent the first half of the day with my hair worn down and long, because it took that long to work our way around to that part of the festival grounds. Thank goodness for the cooler-than-normal temperatures. We arrived just in time for the Bird-of-Prey show, so while my family relaxed on the grass and watched the demonstration of hawks and falcons showing off their hunting skills, I found the Majestic Flower cart and had the ladies there do my hair, as promised. I thought they did a great job, with the little braid of leftover hair at the bottom.

Lunch time at Friar's Inn! I had roast chicken and mashed potatoes.

Lunch at the Renaissance Festival is always highly anticipated. After walking around for a couple of hours, we're famished. We each have our favorites. I find that the roast chicken quarter and a small pile of real mashed potatoes are a delicious compromise between low-carb and tasty natural carbs. Sarah looks forward to soup in a bread bowl every year. And all the guys must have the gigantic turkey legs.

Joust time! They hold three jousts throughout the day.

The most popular events at the Renaissance Festival are the three jousting tournaments. We used to make sure we attended all three, but now we agree that one or two tournaments is enough in a day. Now we like to have the extra time for more exploring when we miss a joust or two. (Plus the village is less crowded while the joust stands are filled with screaming fans.) Nonetheless, the jousts are spectacular fun, and you must attend at least one!

Our hero knight greets his fans before meeting competition in battle.

As always, I end the day with my favorite show, the bagpipes of Tartanic.

(AKA, "Men Without Pants." Gotta love those kilts!)

Dylan and Jake pause for a photo with two of the Doctors Who

and the time-traveling TARDIS while on our way out the gates.

On some weekends, the festival has a special theme. This was our second time to arrive during "Time Travel Days." Thus, we walked the medieval streets with characters from Star Wars and Dr. Who!

This year's Renaissance Festival splurge souvenir that I brought home.

So...I did spend more than I should have on the adorable reading dragon, with baby dragon, above. I'd bought a dragon from Whimsey Winks last year and decided I wanted another to keep it company (to see their amazing craftsmanship, see their page on Facebook at whimseywinks), so we'd headed to their shop as soon as we got inside the gates. I chose one that was rather more complex and expensive than planned, but I fell in love with it and asked them to hold it for me until the end of the day. It's my last dragon, I promise! (But no guarantees...)

Jacob loads up his car and heads back home to Utah...for now.

Eventually, our Renaissance Festival day ended and we all shuffled out to our cars for the long drive home, worn out but happy. We all met up again for dinner at Carl's Jr. in Globe before we continued on the final leg of our journey. On the following day, Sunday, we got together for our usual family dinner, our last one to enjoy with Jacob for a while. And then, on Monday, Jacob loaded up his little red Jetta and drove away back home to Utah.

Until June...Goodbye, Jacob!

This parting, however, was made a little less bittersweet by the fact that Jacob will be back on May 31st, actually moving back to Arizona to stay! He'll be in the Valley, still a three-hour drive away, but so much better than twelve hours! The company he works for, Progrexion, has an office in Deer Valley (north Phoenix), so he's already made arrangements to transfer there. This makes my Mother Heart very happy. 

See you soon, my son!