A Maiden and a Rogue Walk into a Medieval Fair

You know you've homeschooled correctly when your teenager brings up the term "medievalism" all by herself, AND when she gripes about the term "Ren Faire" because everybody is cosplaying the Medieval period there, NOT the Renaissance.

It's been a whopping four years since we last went to this nearby Medieval Fair, a length of time that I can hardly believe since we had so much fun last time! This time, though, I think we had even more fun, especially because this time I wasn't the lone cosplayer. In fact, I actually gave my costume to Will, so while she looked awesome as a maiden and Syd looked awesome as a rogue (wearing the Halloween costume she sewed for herself also four years ago), Matt and I were the boring, modern-day tourists.

There was jousting-- 

--combat--

--and mounted archery--

--and in between the shows we wandered the vendor tents (I bought a book with a hidden compartment in it from Peddler's Chest, but Syd did not find the corset of her dreams--I think I'm going to have to sew one, ugh)--

--did the Scavenger Hunt--

--ate turkey legs and pulled pork, and sat in the sunshine and enjoyed ourselves:

Guess who's the most delighted person at the entire Medieval Fair?

Alas, for I did not use my time wisely, so in the afternoon I had to choose between the final show of the sword swallower and the final show of the fire breather, dang it.

I chose FIRE!!!

When it's not hosting a Medieval Fair, Clayshire Castle is a bed and breakfast and event space. It's fun to walk around inside it and pretend that you're a noble family with the festival going on outside your castle walls:

I LOVE the castle's own collection of cosplay garments!

At the ticket booth, the kids had to choose sides in order to receive their Girl Scout fun patch (they also had to give the Girl Scout Promise to the ticket agent, which was apparently horrifying, but they both did it!), and they both chose the just cause of the House of York. Here is their queen, standing next to the Lancaster queen:

I think my maiden dress must be cursed, because Will also got an awful sunburn while wearing it, oops. Or it's the fault of that tricky autumn weather--so hard to remember to reapply sunscreen when the temperature is so lovely and cool!

So after one last walk past the axe-throwing arena and the drinking horn vendors (so tempting!) and the chain-mail artisan, we headed home to put cold, wet washcloths on our red faces and eat Hostess Scarycakes (because yes, I DO have to buy every holiday-themed food that exists) for dinner while watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

Because obviously your post-Medieval Fair chill-out movie can ONLY be Monty Python or A Knight's Tale. Do not even try me with any subpar non-Medieval alternatives, because I will not have it!