Magical Renaissance Day

We've had a busy summer so it became a challenge to fit the Renaissance Festival into the summer. This was closing weekend and the theme was Mardi Gras. Marina decided to dress as Jasmine this year. I wore my Snow White costume.

We arrived shortly after the gates opened. Marina started shopping right away. We heard some music and went over to watch a bagpipe and drum group. After a while, we moved on to our favorite face paint artist. The line wasn't long, so we waited our turn. Marina chose the new "frozen Princess" design. The colors went well with her Jasmine costume and she was very happy with it.

Next we settled down at the jousting arena to watch the first match of the day. Naturally, we made sure to be in Sir William's section. Marina cheered loudly for him.

Marina was browsing at a store near the arena when the owner told her to hold still for a moment. He came back with a necklace that had a tiny bottle with a crane and sparkles inside it. He thought it would look nice with her costume. She was thrilled!

Marina rode a few rides and we shopped a bit before we finally sat down for lunch. We always split a turkey leg and saw no reason to alter that tradition. We found a shady table and talked with some other people while we ate. We washed the turkey down with a chocolate brownie sundae. As we ate the sundae, we talked with some kids at our table. Marina noticed the little girl didn’t have any beads, so she gave her the ones she had been wearing. Then we shopped around a bit more until it was time for the next joust.

After the afternoon joust, we met up with Marina's favorite fairy and some new characters at the festival. We shopped around and Marina rode some rides - including the giant swing which she loved. Her screams of delight made everyone around laugh.

We met up with the King and Queen and Marina was knighted again by the Queen. Then we made our way for Princess Elizabeth's tea party. Unfortunately, Princess Elizabeth was ill, but the party carried on with a Duchess entertaining the girls instead. They discussed how to be a princess and Marina played a knight in a story skit. 

After the tea party, Marina wanted to wait for the final joust. It was 45 minutes away and I didn't think she really wanted to wait. But we picked a shady spot and waited as the crowd grew around us. This was the Joust to the Death - Sir William against Sir Joseph. It seemed longer than usual and at the end three knights lay on the arena floor, including Sir William. Marina didn't seem too upset by that.

After the joust we watched a comedy juggling act which made Marina laugh pretty hard.On the way out, we greeted Sir William. He asked how many years I'd been photographing him with Marina. I told him it was four. He asked that next year we bring in the photos so he can see the retrospective. That sounds like fun. So we agreed to do that.

We were very tired by the end of the day, but it had been a magical one!