Today kicked off Part 1 of our 2010 Family Vacation: The Stay-cation! In keeping true to our efforts to keep these events new experiences...we began this adventure with a first-time experience for all of us: The 25th Annual Georgia Renaissance Festival. Emmanuel (and of course Fallon) had never attended any such thing, and my only experience had been in California about 15 years ago (I do remember getting my hair braided).
With severe thunderstorms and hail forcasted, we looked to the skies, saw blue, and decided to forge the hour-long trip to Fairburn, Georgia and just prayed the whole way that the weather didn't turn our butts around too quickly. Here's my testimony to the power of prayer: the weather was just perfect for the entire experience. AND...the little lady slept the whole way and woke up just as we were parking. AND...we managed a parking spot merely steps away from the entrance to the festival. We were *supposed* to be there today, I'm telling you.
$20 later, we entered the festival and made our first stop with Mother Goose. Perhaps it was the goose...perhaps it was the lady...or perhaps it was that Fallon was within just minutes of waking up...we could not get the child to smile for anything. But here we are, making lasting memories!
The Queen's Lady in Waiting suggested we head to Fool's Knoll for the crowning ceremony so that our young lady could receive her official certificate stating that she is, in fact, a princess. We arrived at the stage early to get front row seats and within 10 minutes, Fallon Marie was officially a princess of the royal court!
Of course, there was a process to earning this honor, can anyone guess who is wrapped around whose finger here?
Once we had a true princess on our hands, we knew we had to have her protected. Her father, being the man that he is, promptly jumped at the opportunity to show off his Robin Hood skills and headed for the archery booth.
After a quick lesson from an obvious expert, target practice started.
Emmanuel's arrows were landing about 10-25 feet in front of his target. Not bad for a first-timer! If you look closely, you will see an arrow hit the wall above Mr. Almeda's target. That was shot by a boy who looked about 10 years old or so. Don't worry, it takes years of practice, Mr. Almeda! :-)
At this point, our princess seemed a tad parched. And so were we. Along came the overpriced frozen lemonade (what was that, a 900% profit?). It did solve the problem though (can anyone put a price on happiness?).
And then it was time to earn some prizes and make this trip worthwhile. We launched frogs to land on lily pads (look closely for the fashion faux pas in this one and please take it as a lesson learned in what not to do to yourself while out in public because you never know...someone might take a picture of you and post it on the internet) and bobbed for duckies while frolicking in bubbles. Both activities won cherished prizes: one a beaded mardi-gras style necklace and another a mini pirate ducky.
The ultimate test of the day was the petting farm. With a child made nervous by a duck that did not move except to breathe, I anxiously awaited her reaction to *gasp* feeding and petting the animals. But, we forged onward because you can't leave without trying.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen, our beautiful princess put us all in awe (and happily snapping away about 150 pictures of her adorablenes) as she excitedly acquainted herself with the animals of the Renaissance.
There were chickens...
And goats...
And sheep!
The end of our adventure today was highlighted by Mr. Almeda and his personal success. He may not be able to shoot an arrow to save his (or anyone else's) life, but he can throw tomatoes. By the way, turn up the volume on the video if you haven't done it with the other clips.
Today was a good day. Stay tuned for Part 2.
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