Medieval Fun

Flashback time. MR and I took Zombiegirl and 3 of the soccer girls to the Medieval Festival in Sands Point Preserve a few weeks back. I was excited to see the knights- shining armor and all. I'm not sure what the girls expected.

When we arrived, much ado was going on at the King's Court. Knights were fighting, swords clashing against wooden shields, metal clanging against metal. The girls squeezed their way up to the ropes, and MR and I stayed in the back. We watched their expressions while the knights were fighting, and they were absolutely mesmerized!

The knights seem to take these battles very seriously. In fact, all the folks at the Medieval Festival take their roles seriously. I was watching a young girl dressed in a long gown watching from the actor's tent. She had a bottle of 21st century water in her hand. I thought- Aha! She's out of character! My surprise when she poured it into a metal tankard and drank.

After the battles, the King announced that each knight would do battle for a fair lady's hand. Each knight circled the meadow looking for a lady to defend. Since we were behind the girls, we were pointing and yelling that we had 4 beautiful girls here to pick from. Sir Adonis came over, and picked Zombiegirl! He led her to the king, where she sat with several other damsels while we cheered on her knight to win!

That's our fair maiden in the red hat...

Unfortunately, Sir Adonis was defeated. He claimed his lady, gave her a corsage, and led her back to her people.

The girls all agreed that he was "hot!"

We walked around the commons to sample the wares of the kingdom, and to partake in a few of the recreations. Hey! I'm getting into this! At one table, the girls tried on armor...

After visiting the castle and having an ice cream break, we went over to see the jousting. Yes, they use real horses. Yes, they use real lances. Yes, they are really charging at each other. It was very cool when we discovered one of the knights participating in the joust was a woman- Lady Genevive. What a great role model for our young girls!

The jousting was awesome- the lances split apart when they crashed together!

The girls each got a piece to take home.

In the middle of the jousting, a commotion was going on by the King. The girls yelled that the King was hurt, and when we looked over, Sir Stephen had picked up the Queen and kidnapped her, running through the crowd.

They took the Queen to the castle, where the King's knights laid siege, and rescued her after a fierce battle. Huzzah!

No Festival is complete without purchasing swords for slaying dragons, or going into battle. The girls had a blast, and talked about it for days afterwards! They're looking forward to going back next year, and talking about which "princess" is going to have Sir Adonis defend her honor!