On Sunday my family had our own medieval adventure! We donned medieval clothing and went to the local Rennaissance Festival for the day. We experienced two weather extremes there. The first half of the day, it was swelteringly hot, and we in our long gowns, tunics and double layers. It was also very crowded, and with six of us, half of us regularly had to wait for long periods while the other half stood in line for an activity or ride. We should have split into two groups! The heat, crowds and endless waiting was getting to me and I felt quite out of sorts. We were enjoying the good food and the moments when we were actually on a ride or playing a game. But I thought to myself, This isn’t much fun, I don’t think we’ll come back here again.

            Things began to change at the Joust Field mid-afternoon. We enjoyed the thrill of the joust and live horses and fighting as a thunderstorm moved in. Next thing we knew it was pouring rain accompanied by explosive thunder and lightning. Now here was excitement! While everyone else was getting down about the rain, I started to really enjoy myself with the cooler weather. We were granted shelter during the worst in the crossbow range amid comments like “Let’s shoot now, moving targets!”  As soon as the rain let up a little we ventured out, dashing from store to store. By the time we were trudging through the mud the long path to our van, we were soaked through, cold and wishing for our wool cloaks. My seven-year old said “Let’s never come back here again!” And I wholeheartedly agreed.

            Of course, back home, warm and dry, feasting on hearty homemade lamb stew and fresh-baked bread, our thoughts dwelt instead on all the fun we had had. Next thing you knew, we were all saying things like “Next time, let’s save up lots of money and shop for gypsy clothes”, or “Next time, we’ve got to go on all the swings!” And my seven-year old asked, “Can we go back tomorrow?”