Every June in Anchorage there is a Renaissance Fair, The Three Barons Fair. I haven't been for years, but due to Matt being out of town, I was elected to take Bentley to the fair. Matt had taken Jake last weekend for some one-on-one time (Jake needs lots of that right now!) and Jake had come home extolling the grand adventures to be had at the fair. There was sword fighting, rotten tomato throwing, a puppet show (which I think they missed), and a fish pond wherein Jake won a great treasure--a very small, very cheaply made frog that he highly esteems. Bentley wanted a frog of his very own.
So, in order to fulfill Bentley's yen for a penny frog, I was convinced to take him to the fair. He talked about it all week and on Saturday morning, he eagerly inquired of me, "It's sunny, can we go to the fair?". So off we went.
Well, it wasn't quite that easy because we decided to take Jake and Viva with us because Kara had outdoor chores to do. It's never easy get three children ready to leave the house. We took Bob (the stroller) with us because one adult cannot safely keep track of three young children without some restraints.
We arrived at the fair around 1:30 which wasn't the best time because all the good parking was taken. I ended up parking three or more blocks from the entrance. As we approached the fair I saw massive dust clouds being stirred on up on the fairgrounds and I was a little apprehensive. My respiratory health is not at its best right now (I'm recovering from a horrible hay fever season), so those dust clouds made me rethink my decision to attend the fair.
However, it's not like I could turn back. Bentley was on a quest. I paid to get us in and then started down the first thoroughfare. In just a few minutes we came across a couple of Lords preparing for a sword fight and prime viewing was still available! This is important if you have three little people with you. Bob was maneuvered into a good spot and we waited ten minutes or so while the Lords finished getting all their gear on. It's a very time consuming process. Finally we watched a five minute sword fight. Bentley took a few photos. We missed the puppet show because it was during the sword fight. :-(
After the sword fight we were off to find the fishing pond. We trekked quite some distance asking vendors if they knew where the fishing pond was. It was a good hour before someone told us they thought there was one at the other end of the fairgrounds. I pushed Bob loaded with the three tykes over to the Green Court and we scoured it for a fishing pond. No luck, but we did find a booth selling apple slices covered in caramel and M&Ms. Bentley would not try one, but Jake and Viva enjoyed the treat.
Periodically during our search for the fishing pond, Bentley would quiz Jake about where it was. I pretty much ignored those conversations because I wasn't going to rely on a toddler for directions. Jake told us it was in a tent. We finally located the fishing pond outdoors in the last corner we looked before quitting the search. It wasn't a fishing pond at all, but a froggy pool. Jake verified this was the place!!
I purchase $2 worth of tokens so all three children could dip for frogs. We wait for the pool to clear of prior customers and we step up. Guess who had to go the bathroom REALLY REALLY bad?! I'm not sure Bentley was able to fully enjoy his frog pool experience, but he didn't complain. We had found the froggy pond and nothing could mar that accomplishment.
The three frogged and then they collected their loot--jewelry because there were no penny frogs left in the prize stash. Thankfully Bentley was a good sport about the lack of frogs. We quickly headed for the bathroom. We had to bypass the porta potties right next to the pond because the stench was so great I could not hold my breath long enough to help Bentley. We were told to seek out the porta potties at the other end of the fairgrounds. We raced over there and they were much nicer. I had Jake and Viva hold the door wide open while I assisted Bentley. (There weren't any other people around, but I doubt I would have done it differently even with a crowd. I had three toddlers to keep track of, what else could I do?)
Since we had finally located the fishing pond/froggy pool, we were now free to check out the rest of the fair. We saw pirates doing a skit, but I didn't stick around long since the skit was mostly about drinking. It was in an open air tavern that we could see into. Viva asked to stop and listen to a quartet of singers. She really liked them. Fortunately she didn't understand the lyrics. Renaissance fairs tend to be a bit bawdy, but still family friendly.
We missed the tomato throwing because I wasn't consulting the schedule and my clock at the same time. We enjoyed a fairy tale told in skit form. We ate French fries (even Bentley!) and drank a strawberry smoothie that was so cold we didn't finish it. Also, I had no desire to revisit the porta potties. I thought about buying a funnel cake, but didn't.
The trio asked if they could jump in the bouncy house, so I paid $9 for 5 minutes of fun. They were allowed to stay in a little longer than that and it was sufficient time to satisfy them, so it was a win.
Bentley was still going strong after three hours, but Jake and Viva were starting to falter. It was long past their nap time and Jake does not do well without a nap. And then disaster struck. Jake lost his prize from the froggy pond. It was a bracelet that was much too large for his toddler wrist, but he insisted on wearing it. It's not surprising he lost it. He also lost his cool. I spent a few minutes looking for the bracelet in the last few areas we had been, but it was a fruitless search. It was time to go home.
Did we have a good time? Yes! There was more to see and do than I expected--and we missed out on quite a few events. The only real downside was the dust clouds. Would I go back? Yes. We need to catch the puppet show and rotten tomato show and try that froggy pond again when B's bladder isn't distracting him. We need to buy a funnel cake! It was fun to see all the folks dressed in Renaissance outfits. There were quite a few families who were part of the festivities. Maybe for Halloween the kids could be knights and a lady (or Renaissance princess!) and then they could wear their outfits to the fair next spring.
I took my small camera along because sometimes the children like to take photos. For whatever reason they weren't in the mood while at the fair to take many photos. Maybe there was too much to take in and they didn't want to be distracted. So, most of the photos were taken by me--although why I should want to admit that, I don't know. Matt's photos last weekend were much nicer. Did he have a better camera? Better lighting? Less dust? I know! Two less distractions. That was his edge.
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