The Arizona Renaissance Festival is now in full swing!  We were there yesterday to take in the first day of crazed excitement.

The kids each picked one special activity and one special food – Zoe did the trampoline and had a candy apple while Avi rode the dragon slide, shot a bow, and had a lemonade.  Sure, he got two activities because they were cheap and he got his own dollar from the fire juggling guy.

We always like the shows – the guy with the whips, the music, the wandering Irish magician, but Geoff the fire juggler was hysterical and Avi was called onstage to balance plates.  It was great!

The joust was also a highlight. Our  knight lost and was killed! Oh yeah, the final joust of the day is “to the death”.  Avi was concerned at first but we clarified that it was an act and he was relieved to see all the dead folks get up and bow at the end.  Zoe, on the other hand, was so into it I had to quell her screaming, “kill him!” a couple times. She wants to participate next year.

We also loved the petting zoo, the random fairies, the mermaids, the greyhound rescue petting station, and lady Tess the fashion advisor.  Lady Tess was appalled that Zoe was not yet betrothed and informed her she would likely do well with an old rich man whose wife had expired. She then had Zoe help her clothe the little model since her eyes were getting too bad to see the buttons. It was quite interesting to learn about the insane amount of layers these proper ladies wore in Elizabethan times.

Again, Zoe wants a part next year. She wore her traditional Manchego outfit from Féria in Spain and got spoken to a lot from other participants – you dress up and they treat you in character!
The Faire is up near Globe, more Pheoenix than Tucson, but well worth the drive.  We used a 2 for 1 adult coupon which made it affordable, and then got the kids tickets with the military discount. It’s running 10-6 the next 8 weekends.