Utah Valley Renaissance Fair

This morning we went on a field trip with our homeschool group to the Utah Valley Renaissance Fair. We had a blast! If you live in UT County and you don't have anything to do tomorrow, I highly recommend you check it out. Kids 5 and under are free admission, and everyone else is just $4. http://utahvalleyrenaissancefaire.com/

I wish I would have taken more pictures. The first thing we got to see was a welcoming ceremony. We listened to speeches from the king and the queen. And then we got to watch a few people be knighted. It was cool. And my kids thought the full suits of armor were great.

Next we went and saw a mid-evil puppet show. We were excited to see "Mr. Dallin" (one of my kids' favorite story time people at the Provo Library) was the one in charge of the show. It didn't disappoint.  All three of my kids were on the edge of their seats, and laughing and following right along. Which is funny, because apparently mid-evil puppet shows are mostly slap-stick humor with very little dialogue.

Then we listened to a Celtic singing group and walked around the booths. We got to taste test some hard-tack bread and watch how it was made, watch a man with a lathe make legs for chairs, see some beautiful stained glass and wood carvings, and watch a man on a pottery wheel make jars and pots. We also watched some beautiful calligraphers, and walked by a stand explaining how to use all the different kinds of tools and weapons used in that time period. It was all very fascinating.

Then we went to a bird show. The picture I took is of an owl, but the lady holding him turned right as I snapped the picture. Then we watched some guys fighting with wooden broad swords for awhile. Lincoln was super disappointed that I wouldn't let him try. (There is no way he was big enough to even lift the sword, let alone try to fight with it.) So to appease him, we found someone doing balloon art for free, and all three of my kids chose swords and then practiced their skills.

We also got some glitter tattoos, watched a woman eating fire, and listened to some more music groups. Then it was time to go. On the way out, we found a pirate ship. I don't know if pirates have anything to do with the renaissance, I'll have to look it up, but my kids were happy enough to stand by the ship and have their picture taken. (Although, Lincoln did inform me that it wasn't a real pirate ship, because the anchor was painted on and the mast wasn't real wood, and the water had tires underneath it.)

**Okay, I had to look it up, apparently pirates were part of the renaissance...most specifically Sir Francis Drake. Cool.