Ren. Faire!!

Nikki's Pork Chop on a Stick

Yay! We finally got to go again! We went to the Renaissance Faire a few years ago and had a blast, but we haven't found the time to go again for a couple years. This year, I actually found the time to make a few costumes for the kids. I ran out of time before mine was done, but next year...it's on!

All the usual Ren Faire excitement was had. Fencing, eating, drinking, crossbows, and jousting. We saw a mock battle between the Saxon's and Celts, but Tom says that William the Conqueror took over in 1100 so by 1500 (when the Renaissance Faire is set) it would be the English and the Irish, so he was irritated. But it was a pretty good battle anyway.

Fencing Lesson

We watched "Midsummer Nights Dream", some Kung Fu demonstration, and some Indian dancing. I guess they were branching out from the English Renaissance. As usual, there were some pretty colorful characters there, as well as a wide variety of cleavage for the world to see. Seriously, some of them looked a little uncomfortable.

The best show we saw was a couple guys that said they had a Russian Circus and then they didn't show, so they did the whole circus themselves. It was hilarious!

Jake's Turkey Leg Lunch

Next year, we have to plan the day better so we can see more of the shows. And I'm going to start working on costumes. I think we should go Scottish. "If it's not Scottish it's crap!" Can't you just see the boys decked in kilts. They are SO excited! This year they almost had wives but they blew it. :))

Jake Flying (not sure how that's Renaissance)

This thing made me sick just watching them!

And a little archery!

A Fine Bunch of Peasants

Yes! Disneyland Again!

I'll admit it, I've enjoyed having the passes to Disneyland, but I'm not getting them next year. It's just so much money and then we can't do any of the other cool parks and such throughout the year. I think we will save it and do it every couple years if we do it again at all.

We got down there early this time, before noon! We were there about 8 hours and got on almost all the rides. We even had dinner there. Mmm..Mexican food. My boys are too big for kids meals though, so this eating out stuff is expensive. We don't always eat there though, this was special. You know what made it special? I desperately wanted to eat there! :))

ASIMO in Action

I have a few complaints about Disneyland the last few times I've been there. Going there is like getting a huge dose of humanities flaws all at once. I leave desperately wanting aliens to land, find us all creepy and destructive, and wipe us out so they can colonize the planet. Not really, I'm just getting ugly about it.

Here's a list:

Going to Disneyland on XBOX Kinect

Tom is dreaming of a vehicle of his own.

1. The whole park looks as though someone went over it with a fine tooth comb looking for things that might be unsafe, from the trams and the stupid doors, to putting up hideous scaffolding under the leaf part of Alice in Wonderland so people can't fall out if they somehow scoot around and out of the bars of the caterpillar. It's ridiculous.

2. The ride operators are rude. Back in my day (insert crotchety old person voice here), you would be busted big time for ignoring the guests or treating them as if they were cattle. We joked about it with the guests and did tease them a bit, but we were trying to interact and if any one in the lines tried to get our attention we were all over it. Last time a cast member at Space Mountain walked by the cue with his hand out not even looking at us, to get the fast passes. When my son didn't realize what he wanted, the guy stood there and just held out his hand waiting, not saying a word. Geez! And then there is all the construction going on, painting and such, areas blocked off while guys are working. It's lame, totally pulls you out of the experience. The whole point of a theme park is to transport your mind to that theme and butt crack painters is not part of the Main Street experience.

Tea Cups!

I changed my mind about the list. Too negative. I love Disneyland. Actually, I love theme parks. And next year I think I'd rather experience more than just this one.

He's not really mad...he's just pretending! 

Here are some pictures of the day. We spent some time in Innoventions for the first time. The boys liked it. There was a whole set up about cells and microbiology. It was very cool. And they had the Asimo robot. That thing gave the creeps walking out. He's here to take over the world! And we got to play with the XBOX Kinect and now I WANT one! :))

Check out these Bad Boys!

Do these guys look like trouble or what?

Cousin War

We spent the day at my brother's house for Olaf's 9th Birthday. My brother is a total nut when it comes to parties. He had a pretty good one this time. He made a pinata for cryin' out loud! He made a great cake, meatballs, and we had tons of fun. What the boys are sitting on is the remains of an archery target that he made with balloons stuck all over it with prizes inside. They all proceeded to destroy it after the game was over of course. That was half the fun!

We brought the RV and stayed the night in his driveway. The boys had a slumber party in the house. They said that Mr. Chuckles (my brothers french bulldog) kept them up with his snoring and laying across them in bed. We had a great morning harassing each other over a breakfast of scrambled eggs and waffles, while my brother entertained the troops with his impersonations.

Great fun was had by all and I know we are all looking forward to doing again soon!

Rats!

Can you believe this?!

From Cell Phone Photos This is inside my broiler! I turned on the broiler and opened it to get the pan out and there was a pack rat staring at me. He ran to the back and I pulled out the pan to see where he went. There was rat stuff everywhere and he has pulled out insulation and made a nest back there! Now what do I do?! I'll admit, I don't use it that often because we have the BBQ for grilling. We haven't used the oven at all since we got the Sun Oven. We only use the stove top for now. We could replace the oven, but isn't it just going to happen again? I guess I'll just have to check it every day to be sure no one is nesting. But then what about when we go on a long trip? Crud!! 

Book Review - "The Cay"

This one that Jake wanted to read and when he was done wanted me to read it too. It's was written by Theodore Taylor in 1969. Set in 1942 in the Dutch islands off Venezuela, Phillip (about 11 years old) learns that war isn't as fun as it sounds and to overcome his fear of black people. It's a great little book and Jake and I loved it. We fell in love with Timothy and Phillip struggling to survive and trust each other on a deserted island. Jake said that it was a little hard to read the "negro dialect" written. We heard that in an article about Tom Sawyer a while back. Once we realized that he was speaking in a Caribbean accent, it was a little easier to understand, but even Philip in the story had a hard time with the way Timothy spoke at times. Because of this book, we use the word "outrageous" quite a bit!

Quail!

Quail are pretty common around here. In fact, I've been trying to get the boys to shoot them so we can have a quail dinner. They are pretty silly. They love sneaking in the chicken coop and eating the chickens food. They always have a look-out on top of the coop in case the chickens return while they are thieving!
This one was strutting his stuff outside the boys bedroom early this morning and I couldn't help but run out and take a few pictures.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some pictures of my favorite roadrunnner soon!

Bird!

A few years ago, I thought I saw a Scott's Oriole at the bird feeder. I tried to take a picture but it was through the screen and in the shade, so I couldn't get him. Today I was standing in the living room talking to Dan and down flies a bright yellow and black bird and lands on a Joshua Tree bloom. It was him! My husband has known I was odd for many years but this just confirmed it. I ran to get my camera and sneak outside to capture him. Here he is...