The Castle in Muskogee: Renaissance Faire 2014

I love the Ren Faire so much. I wish real life were like a Ren Faire all the time.

and that this was how we solved all our disputes, complete with fake death and magical monarch-ordained resurrection at the end.

I think my favorite part is how people dress up and create this fantasy world that we all kind of wish were true but don't want to admit it in the drab light of day, only behind the Castle walls nobody is in the least bit embarrassed about it. 

Yes, ladies, I'm talking about you.

And you, too, dearest friend from earliest childhood memories. Except I've known you too long to think you wouldn't wear those in public if you felt like it, so maybe you're a bad example.

Also, the Doctor.

This little girl, on the other hand, has not yet learned to be embarrassed about being a princess, thank goodness.

My oldest friend from before either of us could toddle or pee in the toilet came to join in the festivities, and I introduced her to the magical Castle of Muskogee. I hadn't seen her in years. Probably 10 of them. And the last time I saw her we were chased by evil geese, which is another story altogether.

I didn't get a picture of the two of us together because I fail as a friend, but Heidi was quite taken with her and gave me lots of photo-ops. In fact, Heidi is looking over my shoulder right now and saying, "That's Dylan!"

Heidi got to go on the Queen's Quest and find the ribbons that were hidden all over the Castle this year. Last year she wouldn't curtsy, and that is the requirement to go on the quest, so this year we practiced our curtsy so that she would be a pro at it. She got to meet the Queen and was made a lady, and we were given a royal command to call her Lady Heidi for the rest of the day.

There were many adventures all day, and if the repeated chorus of "Princess Castle, please!" ever since is anything to judge by, I'm not the only one who wishes real life were more like this.

Dylan, I'm going to conscript you as my child photography assistant to make funny faces behind my back all the time.

This dear childhood friend of mine hadn't been in my house 30 minutes before she taught my kids to touch their noses and say "phbbbbbbbbbbt!" which hasn't stopped being hilarious to them since.

My babies want a hobbit house, oh, so much. 

In short, in the stories about people being whisked away to Fairyland, if it is anything like a Ren Faire, I can see why those people stay there.

Beautiful

Heidi ran up to me, face full of joy and sparkly colorful raccoon eyes. "Momma, look! Momma, look!"

I looked. I breathed in, halfway. I stopped. I swallowed. I breathed in the rest of the way. I closed my eyes. I forced a smile onto my face. I said, "Did you make yourself beautiful?"

"Yes, I did! I'm so beautiful!"

"You are such a beautiful little girl. Now let's go clean up the mess you made."

But upon inspecting the bathroom, all I could find was a single eyeliner on the sink. "Heidi, where is the rest of my makeup bag?"

"In the closet!"

And I'll be darned if it wasn't. There may have been powder and eye shadow all over the bathroom, but by golly, that makeup bag was put back away.

Catchin' up: Easter

Did you know Picasa made gifs? Because I didn't, but I shall henceforth upload all my rapid-capture shots and have it auto-gif them instead of just picking the best ones.

Anyway. Ahem. Kindly ignore how incredibly late I am at posting Easter pictures, and hang on for the next two posts too in which I will show off a) my beautiful family which you clearly have never seen before, showcased by my friend's excellent photographic skills and b) my friend's beautiful family, showcased by my rather more bumbling photographic attempts. In the meantime, here's Easter!

Also, thanks to Google's awesome and somewhat creepy software, here a gif demonstration of why you will probably never see a picture of my children in which they are all looking.