Viking vs Pirates

Viking vs Pirates. . .no contest This past weekend was another test of my endurance. To camp again with grandchildren in a primitive atmosphere. No running water. . .no water at all unless you packed it with you. No camp sites . . it was a fallow field about 10 acres big.. .no trees. No bathrooms. . .only port-a-potties that got serviced every morning at 5:07 am. And you could not leave your vehicle next to your tent so you had to hike a ways out of the field to get anything out of the rig or to leave the site. BTW, did I mention we drove from Canby to Buckley Wa. On a Friday night AFTER work, so we arrived at 10pm, with semi conscious kids and pitch black field. Not that I am complaining, mind you. I just want the picture to be painted with the right colors. The reason for the campout was to go the Washington Renaissance & Fantasy Faire. I have been to this faire many years, but last year it got canceled and this year it has moved from Gig Harbor to Buckley, Wa. Where is Buckley, Wa. You ask. . . well go up to Puyallup and hang a right and go about ½ hour more. It is near Bonny Lake. A total of 3.5 hours of driving from home. Here we have a band of pirates. New costumes for the kids. I made them semi matching. Yes they are loud, but that way we could always find them in a crowd. We were surprised to see Joy keep her little cap on the whole day. And yes, there is a mark on Joy’s forehead. She has 5 stitches. She took a fall from a couch and on the way down grazed the brick of a hearth. I said she has the Harry Potter look.




And here are the Pirate brothers.























During the Joust the Fool put on a helmet and put a cabbage on the helmet. The reigning Knight would ride by and try to chop the cabbage in half. Here are two pics that show the Fool praying, then the second one, look up at the top you will see the sword. The Knight hit the helmet square. . it made a BIG ringing sound. I felt sorry for the poor Fool.













Many of the pics will not include Kentucky. He was always making faces when I would snap a pic of him. Besides the best ones were of Joy or Korban just being natural. Joy is holding Sally. . .a dolly I created for her that has matching pirate costume. I was again surprised how she kept Sally where ever she went. Rag dolls are so perfect for this age.


















Korban found a hill to run and then tumble down. Joy would run down but wasn’t brave enough to tumble yet. Korban got asked to join the magician up on stage and ring the gong. He was terribly shy. And cute.













And then. . . . . there was the Viking.

This dude was wonderful.
He totally stayed in character and knew how to play at adult level, bothersome teenager level and child’s level. I was watching Joy & Korban so Cameron could go shopping with Kentucky for something. I told Korban he could play on the haybales but NOT to climb on the bleachers, they were aluminum and he liked to stomp and make loud noises on them. So he went down to the bleachers. And stood with his arms crossed. He was mad at me for keeping him from doing something he REALLY wanted to do. Up comes the Viking and he started to talk to Korban. No way was Korban going to talk to him. He turned around with his arms still crossed he walked about 10ft away from the Viking. The Viking followed him and when his shadow crossed over Korban, Korban walked another 10 ft to get away from the Viking. He never spoke he just kept his arms crossed and kept looking away from the Viking. Here is the results of this impromptu Viking vs. Korban scene.



















About 20 minutes later the Viking came back through
holding a little girl’s purse. He was mentioning that he would normally steal a purse like this but he wanted to see what faire maid it belonged to. Kentucky was now with me and he recognized the purse immediately as his sister’s purse. He approached the Viking and claimed it. Joy saw what her brother was doing and approached the Viking too. What a sweet exchange. And a cute picture to see a Big ol’ Viking holding a little purse. Hours later I was scanning through the pics using the camera screen. I had Joy on my lap looking at them. When she saw the Viking she told me very clearly that “He give me my purse”. Funny how sharp and clear their memory is at this age. Joy turns 2 tomorrow. She may have a sharp mind. . .but it get’s tired quickly too. Thus ends a weekend at the Faire