The weekend went very well. Yes, my mother-in-law was here – she arrived on Saturday near lunchtime. We had time before she got here to do swim lessons at 8am followed by lawn-mowing.

I hate my lawn-mower.

It took me two hours to do my yard – and its not a big yard.  I have nobody to blame but myself.  I got a brand new craftsman-brand gas mower, but when it hit a rock it stopped working.  I have to take it somewhere to get it fixed.

In any case, I think we spent most of Saturday visiting.

Sunday morning we went over to the skate park so the boys could show their grandmother how good they are.  It turned out well because nobody hurt themselves.  I thought that made it a good event.

Afterwards we went to King Richard’s Faire in Carver, MA.  We sampled the mead - good stuff.  It was very sweet, though.  People put so much effort in to their costumes - a lot of them turned out really well.  There were innumerable pirates and the wenches were always a sight for sore eyes.  There were some very creepy/frightening costumes.  I even saw a Star Wars Clone Trooper. What does a clone trooper have to do with a renniasance fair?  I dunno.  But even that guy stayed away from the two guys dressed as Stargate Atlantis commandos.

We liked the jousting tournament.  I kept looking at the weapons, I have to admit.  There were some low-quality swords that were affordable, but frankly weren’t nice enough to put on a wall or anything.  There were some beautiful swords that were a couple of thousand dollars.  Finally there were some middle-of-the-road swords that ran $300 or so.  Still, I didn’t want to spend that much money on what would essentially be a decoration.  I mean, lets be honest, I have no use for a sword.  Any kind of sword.  Not even a machete.  I don’t even play dungeons and dragons or anything, for crying out loud.

So I passed on it.

The kids had a great time.  Gabriel bought a cute pair of leather bracers.  All in all, it was a good time and I think my mother-in-law had a great time.

The whole ren-fest-thing was a bit lost on me, though I have to admit.  Yeah, they have lots of cool things for sale - but I don’t want to buy any of it.  Why would I want a $70 leather pounch?  Or a tunic?  Or a staff?  It seemed to be mostly vendors there.  Of course there were shows, too.  There was a mideval food court with ye olde pizza and whatnot.  And of course there was the spectacle of seeing all the people dressed in their costumes.  But I kept feeling like I was missing something.  I’m still not sure what.

Tags: Family, Misc, Politics //