Renaissance Faire

On Sunday Michael and I got up early to drive to Tampa for the Time Traveler's weekend of the Renaissance Faire. I already felt like I "didn't have anything good to wear" with my three T-shirt options. I opened the camping closet where my two bags of clothes were hanging, but Michael stopped me because he said I needed to stick with my Lent Rules of using less since I made a big deal about it last week. So I wore my Harry Potter shirt, and then got two compliments on it while we were at the Faire. Michael got a compliment on his Iron Man pants. Finally more Canon pictures!!

   After stopping for breakfast (can't ever go wrong with a sausage egg and cheese bagel from McDonalds before a mini roadtrip!) we drove down and got there around 10:30. One thing I was impressed with was the double sided hand washing stations set up next to the porta-potties. We walked around the area, which seemed pretty big, before stopping into the specific "shops" to see what they had for sale. They had a bunch of stages and one guy was doing jokes and magic tricks, with an assistant who had green hair. Although I was standing in the back, the girl looked familiar and I asked Michael if that was his friend Heidi. It was so we said hello after the show. 

 ^^ Heidi

   My favorite parts of the day (we stayed for three hours which was a good amount for me) were all the things animal related. We rode an elephant! The price was a little steep for the one minute ride ($10 per person), but how many people can say they've ridden on an elephant? It was one of those things that was on my "minor bucket list". I also really liked the mud show because the guys were really funny. All of the performers asked for tips at the end of their acts, but by then I only had a $10 bill left and was saving that for ice cream and soap. The waffle cone I got for lunch was a caramel cheesecake and Michael had a chicken gyro. Around that time he kept checking that I was having a fun time because I was being quiet, but I explained I was in a tired mood and wanted to go with the flow so he enjoyed the day. I bought a raccoon tail for five dollars that Michael kept laughing about. We waited for the jousting tournament to start, then watched for about ten minutes. That's where I saw this dog dressed up:

 ^^ In this picture you can see the two girls in the front flinching because they got mud flung on them when the guys jumped. I thought it was cool they had a "mud zone seating" for those who wanted it.

   We also got to see the mermaids and they had a bunch of nice low priced paintings for sale in the fenced area we had to walk through to get to the end. The mermaid sitting in the water out front was greeting everyone and saying hello, but the one swimming in the tank only made dolphin sounds while she collected jewels from the bottom for the little kids. Then we found the free petting zoo that had two donkeys, a llama, and a bunch of "goaties". The feed was only 50 cents per cup so I paid a dollar to get carrots and the regular pellet food. I loved the baby goats and wish they had all been closer to the fence.

   We walked around one last time and Michael found the handmade soaps! I was surprised to think nobody was selling any, but it turns out that we walked by that area twice already. I got the Love Potion kind because it was my favorite, surprisingly Monkey Farts which had a citrus smell was also good, but I only bought the one bar. We saw Heidi again right before we left, so I got to pet the super soft bunny they had been performing with, and she introduced us to the magician as "Michael and Amanda". She said my name with a certain confidence it that seemed rude to correct her. 

 ^^ King Michael sitting on the Game of Thrones.. throne.

   Chip is still doing well -kicking, and rolling or flipping (that's an extra weird and wonderful feeling)- and turned 24 weeks on Sunday. Also I've gained two more pounds, so I currently weigh 122, which you may not care about, but since this blog is also documentation for myself, I'll want to remember that detail.  According to my three pregnancy apps, she (or he -maybe we'll find out tomorrow?) is about 13 inches long and weighs about one and a half pounds.