Vacations, Ren Faires and Tribulations

Been a while since I posted, I just noticed. Whoa, life has taken a real turn for the... ummm. Not exactly worse, but not the best either. Maybe it has just taken a turn. I haven't even been keeping up with the blog prompts, so bad. What it amounts to is that I have just taken a break from the computer for a while. Wrap my mind around other hobbies and necessities that have been plaguing me daily. Spend more time with Pan. Actually I had been sitting and watching him play his x-box games while I knitted a pouncho for the Princess.

But all that changed when he finally broke open the Legos Star Wars Original Trilogy game. You have heard some of how Indy is with it; but now that is what he wants to play during the day. Which means, of course, I learned how. Although I have figured out why I am no good at them. I am too methodical. I start at one end of the room blasting each and every wall panel; then move to the middle of the room and don't go to the next until I am absolutely sure that I have eliminated everyone and everything that is possible to eliminate.

Whilst I must admit that originally I had to call the bug to get tips when Pan would get frustrated, now she calls me or I call to tell her some juicy piece of info about the game; like the nuke packing Ewok. That little fuzz ball is now my favorite character.

Above and beyond the Star Wars game though, there was the week the Bombshell went on vacation. The dads were to have the kids, but wouldn't you know it, that was the week of the Renaissance Faire and Nuke was making a special trip down just to take the Princess. More on this later. Indy's dad couldn't find a babysitter, guess who came to the rescue? In addition, our once weekly paper is now publishing a second paper for the base, since their paper quit printing. More work for part-time me. At least until I get back into a groove that works for me. But that was the week I had intended on finishing my craft room and getting my computer moved in there so I could do something with my living room.

Now let's talk about the fun stuff.... Nuke and the Princess' weekend at the Renaissance Faire. They went by theirselves the first day. Pan and I went with them on the 2nd fully expecting to only be there a couple of hours. Some 4 or 5 hours later we went home.


Little John and the beautiful Princess head off in a Jeep to see what what the local happenings, but first a quick stop by Pan's parents house so they could see the lovely couple. Nuke makes his own outfits for the fairs including his boots. This is why Pan and I ended up going the next day, the only pictures were from my mom's house and Pan's parents.


Yes, he even made his own chainmail. Side story here: I was telling one of my co-workers about it when the younger guy (M) in production asked if he had been making them for long. I told him "yes, he has." When M pipes up, "He went to my high school. I know who he is." Nuke has definitely garnered a reputation, that he is remembered 12 years later.


I'm going a little out of order with the pics here. We didn't get any before we left as we though we would get plenty at the fair (and we did). But whereas Saturday was in the 70's; Sunday was in the 30's and the Princess ended up wearing jeans and a jacket over her Robin Hood outfit. Nuke was soooooo jealous that she looked so cute in a last minute outfit. Turned out great though.


One of the things the Princess tried on Sat., but had no luck at was climbing the ropes. She thought it was because of her dress; actually it was because she didn't pay attention. She had good form and if she had listened to the guy manning it, she probably would have made it to the top and rung the bell.


Another favorite was the pirate hunt. For a small fee you were given a packet with pictures of 6 pirates that you had to hunt down. As you went through the fair you could waylay other pirates and rassle information from them. As you located your pirates, you then had to persaude them to give you their autograph. This usually came with a catch though. One of the pirates she needed an autograph from (Wright) said he would give it to her if she could bring back a piece of information from Bart or Lady Katherine's map, both of which she needed to get autographs from as well. Thing here was that Wright wasn't going to be in the same place when she got the needed information. We did one better though and managed to actually take a picture of Bart's map.


And what is a trip to a Renaissance Faire without a lesson in jousting. The princess hit it dead center each and every time and actually listened this time around and continued running forward, nearly knocking a pirate out who was sitting in the line of fire.



And what does a fair Robin Hood get for locating and obtaining the autographs of all her pirates? What a lesson in sword fighting, of course. She was great at blocking everything but her legs. Then she was afraid to thrust so he could block her moves; but then when she did, she actually got him. BTW, this is the pirate who was in the line of fire in the joust. All in all it was a good weekend and everyone had a fabulous time.