Renaissance Festival!

We had the most wonderful time at RenFest this year!

We ended up dressing up in 'Renaissance attire' all because of this dress here...

Last spring I found this dress at Toys'R'Us on sale, and thought it would be a fun dress-up dress for Ashlyn. Well, as soon as Morgan saw it she said "She could wear it to the Renaissance Festival! We should ALL dress up!" So, her and I had looked at various patterns and such over the summer. We found some cute things, but by the time I bought all the materials it was going to be an EXPENSIVE dress! So, we started looking on line, and actually found some really nice one's. We had talked of going to the RenFest the week before, but Morgan's dress wasn't here yet, and she WOULND'T hear of going without it! Well, her dressed showed up on Thursday. I realized it needed hemming (as did Ashlyn's), and the dress for Madelyn was torn, so Friday night I set to alter them.

Just in time for Saturday morning fun!

My princesses!

The flower headbands were from last years trip!

On the way to school Morgan had told a neighbor of her desire to have us all dress up, and she came over to my house that morning with a dress for me to wear!

The boys weren't as dressed up (and I'm mad that I didn't even get a photo of them all!)

Brian & Hayden were 'pirates', and Ronan & Duncan both wore brown cloaks.

We had a WONDERFUL time! The weather was fantastic!!

Here's a few (who am I kidding...I couldn't just pick a few) of my favorite photos of the day....

Eating a turkey leg! A MUST at the RenFest!

Sweet girls waiting for the pony ride.

I love her little dimple face!

Pony rides!

Madelyn, Duncan, Ashlyn, Morgan, and I rode the elephant!

Naughty children!

Send them to the stockade!

She seems a little too happy to be locked up.

By mid-afternoon this little one was slowing down.

Mirror, mirror on the tree...

We couldn't leave the festival without wooden swords!

In fact, Ronan bought a HUGE one that he was waiting for all day!

(And yes, I did NOT get one. single. photo. of him ALL day! Bad mom!)

Some of the Noble men.

It really was a magical day!

I'm so happy we went, and glad we dressed up....it made it all the more fun!

If you haven't been before...GO!

It's running until Oct. 21st!

Fire pit

Last week was a big fire week around here.

First I found Duncan and a neighbor boy building a 'fake' fire.

They had filled the fire pit with wood, and were rubbing two sticks together to try and start a fire. 

After an hour of this, I decided to light their fire as a reward for their persistence in trying it with the sticks.

 Their siblings joined in, and we roasted marshmallows.

We then started a fire on a Friday night, and sat outside with some neighbors making s'mores and chatting around the fire. It was great.
Then 2 more times this past week we had evening fires. Once just for fun (without roasting anything). It's funny how quickly a fire draws a crowd! Brian & Duncan were out of town, and I sat out there with our kids, and a bunch of neighbor kids telling ghost stories.
Then we roasted hot dogs for dinner the next night.
It's nice that the evenings are cool enough now that sitting by the fire feels good.
We've sure enjoyed our little fire pit this week!
Cheap, easy entertainment!

Picnic

Blue sky.

Puffy clouds.

A blanket.

Food.

Good Company.

All adds up to a wonderful, relaxing family picnic.

 Butterfly friend.

 Hayden got lost in a book.

 Silly Madelyn.

Ashlyn, Duncan, & Morgan were entertained in the tall grasses for hours.

I want this kind of day every day.

The petting farm

The kids all had free tickets to the local petting zoo thanks to the Library's Summer Reading Program, and we decided to make an afternoon of it.

 Madelyn and her Prince Charming.

While there were plenty of animals there, the goats were the kids favorite!

 Madelyn liked the sheep too. She would giggle every time she fed them, as their tongues would tickle her hand.

Time on the tractor is always a fun thing.

 Ashlyn

 Madelyn

 Duncan

 Nothing like ice cream to finish off a great day.

(And having it run down your arm)

 Or a rainbow...

Beautiful.

Afternoon walk...

We went for a Sunday afternoon walk as a family.

It was a beautiful day. 

 I absolutely love the carpet of green on the forest floor.

Ashlyn found some beautiful treasures along the way...

We also came across a man who told us where to find an old family cemetery.

 It was quite an interesting time.

We ended up going much farther than we thought, and before we knew it, we had tired cranky kids to haul back. Ashlyn & I ended up going ahead and getting the van to come back and get the rest of the crew. I'm impressed with Ashlyn's stamina, she's quite the little walker.