A Festival of Friends

It’s been a crazy summer and we hadn’t been to the Renaissance Festival yet this year. One of Marina's friends has wanted to go with us for years. So yesterday at her party we decided that she and her father would join us this year.
She dressed as Belle today. Marina had planned to dress as a fairy but it was foggy and cool this morning, so she changed into her Ariel costume instead.

Traffic wasn’t too bad and we arrived shortly after the festival opened. We saw Juniper the Fairy in front. Marina was happy to introduce her. We also saw our friend Princess Elizabeth on top of the gate. Except this year she is Queen Anne!

We started toward the jousting grounds so we could be there for the first round. On the way we saw the unicorn and the Owlmancer. Along the way the girls were happy to shop the jewelry and clothing stores.

For the first joust of the day we were in Sir Duncan’s section. Sir William was acting as Master of Ceremonies again this year. But we were able to talk to him briefly after the match was over.
We headed to the food court and the girls shopped more along the way. Marina and I shared our traditional turkey leg. While we ate we watched part of the Exotic Cat show. We stopped to see our favorite face painter where both girls picked a design to go with their costumes. Then we wandered the shops a while longer until it was time for the second joust.
 
For the second joust, both Marina and Ainsley bought favors for their favorite knight. Marina chose Sancho and her friend picked Duncan. Then after the joust was over, we took photos with both of them as well as Sir William.

We went to Juniper’s booth where Marina gave her a book with photos from last year. She was thrilled with it! Next we went for the Knighting ceremony where the Queen Mother and King of Ireland were presiding.

We stopped for snacks and went to the jousting ground for Princess Erin’s tea party. She had asked Marina t help out which she was more than happy to do. After everyone gathered, Queen Anne joined us for the party. After chatting about the festival, Princess Erin told a story with the Lord Chamberlain, the flag bearer, one of her ladies and Marina acting it out. Marina was a lady knight. She clearly enjoyed the role.

After the party we gave Queen Anne photos from last year when she was Princess Elizabeth. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the book we gave her years ago and immediately added the photos! We took a few more with her and Princess Erin.

After the tea party, the girls wanted to go to the petting zoo to see the baby goats. Of course they squealed over them. They look a look at the rest of the animals before we left to watch the final joust. We got popcorn and found seats to watch it. The good knights triumphed over the bad guys.

We look our time going out. The girls rode a pirate swing and shopped some more. On the way out we said goodbye to Juniper and the jousters. Queen Anne was outside with King Henry, so we said goodbye to them as well. We watched the rest of the cast sing and dance for a few minutes before going back to the car. The girls were already making plans to go together next year on the way back.