When I Rode an Elephant/Petted a Goose

'Twas also the day the merry Renaissance Festival came to town, and essentially some of my biggest dreams came true.  To actually be present in a simulated medieval experience that is obviously a romanticized/idealized version of what we think the 15th century might have been like, had they had trash cans and hand sanitizer? MOTHER, MAY I??? I loved it.  But then again, cathedrals and monasticism are some of my favorite things to talk about.  It was a fun environment, everyone just out to have a good time, where people were free to dress as they pleased with swords and lots of brocade, even if they did get a little carried away into pirate/musketeer territory. But we enjoyed the jousting and the skewered meat, the juggling and the goats, the artisan wares and the myriad (myriad!) men in skirts.  Or kilts.  Whatever. 

One of my favorite things was knowing that they had all gone to rehearsals to learn this little stick/flute dance

Regalia

Petting the fancy goose.  (I mean, she's wearing petticoats!)  

My guy was the one on the right; Nicki claimed the one on the left.  But any way you look at it, they were all dressed like sofas.

Machetes and fire made juggling all the more hardcore.  Especially while balancing on top of things.

Sweaty shirtless Scottish man, natch.

Shaggy, the Scottish cow.  It's hard to tell, but Shaggy is probably the biggest cow in all the land.

A slice of rustic life

Mmm, yeah, gittin' some!

Sir Maximilian -- he was the best looking and won the joust.  And then we all sang "We Will Rock You."

Look how I made a low-quality GIF of JOUSTING!

Riding an elephant with some young boys I didn't know...

We found $20 bucks on the ground (holla!), which we used to fund our elephant rides and festival fodder

Oh, this elephant.  I mean, look at that nonchalance!

Nicki going for a spin

Turkey legs!

And that is how we partied like it was 1499.