Mother's Day at the Renaissance Faire

Believe it or not*, I'd never been to a Renaissance fair, so we decided to give it a try this year for Mother's Day. And the fair here in Los Angeles is actually the first and largest in the country.  Even the weather cooperated - it was chilly and damp, perfect for wearing many layers of clothing.

I wore this beautiful five-piece, hand-made Renaissance costume my mother made me years ago for a school event.  My mother also sewed the tunic Dev wore.

Costume selfie

 

 

Arthur already had an adorable knight costume Mina gave him for Christmas, and I bought Beatrice a dress at our local year-round Halloween store, Halloweentown. 

 

For William, I cut up a man's brown t-shirt to make him a tunic. I was initially going for Robin Hood but he wound up looking more like a little wood sprite. Pretty cute either way.

Arthur's favorite part of the fair was the joust (or "horse battle," as he called it) - and our knight won.  Beatrice was absorbed in the crafts and spent more than an hour making a fairy house. 

 

This man-powered ride was surprisingly fast.

Beatrice and I making dolls

 

The kids also enjoyed the various performances, including acrobats, folk singers, and a "wizard" (that is, a magic show).

 

Corn is a New World food.

Dev loves eating meat with his hands, and I loved seeing the many elaborate costumes on display as well as planning future costumes of my own.  Unfortunately my phone battery died before I could take any photos of the best ones - we'll have to wait for next year.

We had so much fun, I think we'll make this a new Mother's Day tradition.

* In the week leading up the fair, I told probably two dozen people I was going for the first time and every single one of them said they assumed I went every year.