Magical Realm Fantasy Faire

We were abnormally busy as family yesterday!  Alice was invited to Melony's birthday party, which fed into Gizzardfest.  So, she was the first out the door, at 11am, ready to stay until 7pm!

Emily was also invited to Gizzardfest with her friend Ella, so we dropped her off en route to the faire, and she was also planning to stay until 7ish!

At the faire, we were welcomed with a map and a quest!  Then we were able to meet up with the Cornishes at a show.

William oscillated between wanting to participate and not wanting to.  Going into seventh grade is hard!

The twins did all of the quests!

So that no one had to carry the flowers, I braided them into the girls' hair.

Apparently 'short people have more magic' so the twins go to help carry the magical artifact!

Training their pet rock.

We had a lovely shady spot for the joust.  It was really well done!  

Not only was the show enjoyable, but the jousting pole pieces were collected and passed out as souvenirs (how creative!) and then you could have the jousters sign your piece!  The knights ran five times and it was pretty much a tie!

For some of the quests, they gave you actual artifacts to carry, and those were the most stressful, because they felt like the most pressure to get it done fast!

During the final quest, the kids all fought the 'dark side.'

But they were invited to swap sides, because the dark side 'has cookies.'  Natalie got this awesome action shot of William!

William with his ill gotten gains.

Once the final quest ended, it was nearing five, and we were all tired, and kind of ready to go, but we said goodbye to the Cornishes, and walked around for another hour, biding our time until we could go collect the big girls!

The twins found some elf ears that they liked.  I told them that now they match Alice!

It was a good time, and definitely scratched that Ren Faire itch without the drive or the lines!  The weekend changed from the last time we went, so I don't think it's consistent enough to add to the schedule right now, but maybe we can aim to make it every other year!

later days

Impression 5, a Third Visit, in as Many Weeks

For Emily and William's first Friday of summer, we went to Impression 5, again!  Grace asked if we could invite Heleena, and since she lives so close, and there would be no additional cost, since we can bring guests, I said yes, and Heleena came along with us!  

I had also invited Avia, at the time she was unsure of her schedule, but she was able to join us too!  We missed Alice who still has another week of school left!!!

We arrived twenty minutes early, and the parking lot was empty! They were playing four corners while waiting.

Emily got a little wet. oops.

The bubble room was pretty empty, and by 1030, we realized that there were no field trips there.  So, the kids were there with only a smattering of other little kids and their caregivers!

William spent 80% of his visit in the bubble room!

My mom had parked and walked to meet us, anticipating a full parking lot, so she and Emily left for a while to explore the downtown path and get her car before the parking meter ran out.

We went to two pop up events.  The first was finger printing, which they thought was okay.  They enjoyed the fish building way more!

I told them that if a small child came over, they had to immediately stop and surrender the space to the  one for whom the space is designed. They played longer than I thought they would, and no little kids came over while they were there.

Juliet blew a bubble...

...and William caught it!

William made a 'snowman.'

By 1230 everyone was winding down, so once Emily got back, we loaded up the car to go home.

It was a nice change for the twins to have a friend along, and they enjoyed getting to stay until they were done!  I think it will be a few weeks before we go back again, but that's the fun thing about summer, you just never know!

After we dropped off Heleena, I took the kids to pick out donuts for national donut day!  QD had their donuts on sale for $1 each!  This is the pile that made it back home, with one for Daddy and one for Alice since they were still at work and school.  The pickings were pretty slim, but we were all just happy to have something.

I'm glad we did a 'stay until you're done day' without Alice, because she prefers events that have an end time, and so the next time we go, it should be easier for everyone to be happy!

later days

edit 6-8-25: backdated for continuity.

Emily's Freshman Marching Drills

Last week, Emily and William finished up their school year, and Emily started Freshman Band camp at her new school!  I was so excited for her.  

Sadly, for me, Juliet's emergency dentist appointment fell on the same day as her first practice.  Luckily, Avia stepped in and was able to taxi her to practice!  She came home all smiles and excitement; definitely loves it every bit as much as I thought she would!

Fast forward to Thursday, we arrived early for her second practice so that she could be fit for her uniform (since color guard has a separate uniform than the band) but she was told to wait until sectionals.  

Grace came with me so that we could try for a third (and what would have been final) time to make sure her ice cream sundae was on display to represent Dimondale.  They didn't put up the paper (that we printed and brought with us) so I don't know for sure that it was a success, but at least the PTO will get one donation from Grace's sundae! = )

One more pose in the giant chair!  Fewer and fewer Crockers came with each trip.

We took our sundaes to go, and got to see Emily in her ranks for the final few minutes of practice.  

After practice, we had to wait so that I could pay for her band shoes (because I clicked no, she didn't need them because she could wear Alice's, not considering that color guard would have different shoes.) The financial guy didn't arrive until after five, so I volunteered my time in the uniform room to help fit the incoming freshman.

I'm so excited for Emily's new adventure, but a little sad that Alice isn't going to be joining her on the field in the fall.

Here's to high school band year one for Emily, and high school band mom year two for me!

later days

edit 6-8-25: backdated for continuity.