My Faire Valentine

I will never regret making The Renaissance Festival our yearly Valentine's tradition. It literally gets better and better every year.
And this year we hardly went to any of the shows!
Whether it's just being out in the fresh air with my little family, having a few hours of dedicated time spent just wandering with Mark, or admiring all the handcrafted trinkets, I just get such a kick out of the Faire.
We started off the day introducing Ander to the wonder and majesty of bagpipes, which he amicably enjoyed. Nothing too exciting in his book, but I'm just glad it wasn't too noisy for him and that he was content to mill around the grassy knoll.
And then...we basically just strolled the grounds, ate as much food as we wanted, and drank all the lemonade. Couldn't get enough liquids.
Ander did better than I even could have imagined. We didn't have a single tantrum or crying episode. He loved all the attention from the park-goers, and had so much to look at and admire. He finally went down in the stroller after a few hours and we found a shady spot to rest our feet as well, snarfing down a turkey leg.

Mine and Mark's costumes were a little lackluster and hastily thrown together, but I had a vision with Ander's and it turned out exactly perfect. I wanted him to be Robin Hood but, as per my usual procrastinating self, hadn't gotten anything prepared till the day before we were leaving. So I hurried over to Deseret Industries to see what I could find. And I came across a forest green onesie that was perfect! But then I needed a vest of some sort. I found a 3T girl's jumper that looked like it had potential, so I brought my treasures home (along with Mark's billowy pirate shirt) and set to work. I trimmed off the flowery details on the jumper and cut out notches to give it the tasseled hem look, and then I chopped up one of Mark's green t-shirts and made the little cap.

You can see the green slits of cardstock I literally safety pinned to the inside of the hat to keep it stiff and help give it that pointed shape.

Also tied bits of elastic string on to help hold it on his fat noggin. It still fell off every couple of seconds. Ain't nobody got time for hat!

One patron was admiring Ander's sunny disposition, asking, "is he always smiling like this?" and I nodded affectionately. He then commented as Mark walked up with our third round of lemonades, "you've got a politician in the family."
It sounded like a compliment.
We had a fun time studying the maps of the clans they have displayed at one of the booths. One of these days I'll actually get to doing some Family History and figuring out what our tartan colors are so we can get some kilts! Our clan crest is pretty intense, too. Flaming lizards? Crowned hearts? Okay!

Jamais Arriere meaning "Never Behind"

All the blue areas are Douglas. And apparently Douglas Castle is a thing! Barely a thing anymore, there's only a single crumbling tower left from the 17th century structure, but it has definitely made it's way onto the "MUST VISIT" list.

We made our rounds one last time, trying to decide on a souvenir. I sighed over some opal and pewter earrings but decided they were too expensive. We've always been on the lookout for some mugs that we love, but the decorative emblem for 2016 was pretty lame. And at over $20 for a single mug, we'd better be fairly enamored with the thing. Granted, there are pewter mugs with gold emblems of dragons or the irish Tree of Life that we basically ogle every year, or the 42 ounce pewter steins that would cradle some hardcore root beer floats, but they're all over $50 apiece. Perhaps for our like, 20th anniversary going to the Faire.
We also contemplated wood-carved dragon figurines for Ander's room, a leather-bound journal with a nifty metal locking clasp, a calligraphy quill and inkwell, and we always look at the blades for Mark, but A) we're cheapskates and B) we couldn't decide definitively on anything.
So, once again, we came away with merely some roasted and sugar coated almonds and pecans. I ain't mad about it.

We got home with one exhausted baby who went immediately down for a nap. I tried as well and was unsuccessful. So we decided it was high time for a sushi night and stuffed our faces with Yogi's while watching Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers which then prompted a three day marathon of the movies. Plus, Mark sold his VW Passat that he's had for yeaaaars and got it past 250,000 miles and I was so elated to see that thing gone. He's put so much work and blood and sweat and my tears into it, it needed to go. So we celebrated that win as well with some discount Valentine's chocolate I bought right after the holiday.

All in all, it was quite the excellent Valentine's celebration.