Sunday: Sunday is definitely fun-day in this house! We went to church, and then when Kyle came home from work we all went to the Great Plains Renaissance Faire. Yes I am definitely the type of person to go to the Ren Faire, and if I could dress up for it I would. In fact, my sisters and I used to dress up for it before I had kids.
Shortly after arriving we ran into my Aunt Kathi and my cousin Caitlyn. I don't get to see them very often, and it was a wonderful surprise bumping into them :)
Afterwards we walked around the fair, and Ares talked us into getting him a new sword since his previous ones have all broken. Luckily we were able to talk the guy selling them down to $5.
We then finished walking around, and saw some fascinating sights! We saw belly dancers, different types of birds and their trainers, and a modern day blacksmith.
Then there was this woman that came up to us, and asked Ares if she would like to pet her baby dragon. It was a little puppet that she had on her shoulder, but controlled with her hand. Ares did not know this though and thought it was a real baby dragon, and I didn't tell him any different because I personally believe everyone should believe in magic as long as possible. It took him a little coaxing, but he finally was brave enough to touch it.
After the dragon lady we saw my personal favorite, a mermaid. Now I knew that the Kansas City Ren Faire had mermaids in a large tank, but I didn't know there was going to be a mermaid here so it was a pleasant surprise. She wasn't in a tank though, and so Ares was worried about her. Ares didn't want to touch her so I went ahead and had the girls take a picture with her.
Once we made our rounds of the fair grounds we went over to the Children's Realm.
Ares then fought a Viking!
Ceridwen wanted in on this action too, and one of the Vikings was nice, and let her try it out for free.
After we played some other games, we came back to have Brigid have a try, and to give Ares one more chance at it. Brigid saw the Vikings she had to choose from, and she broke down crying! I sat with her to try and calm her down and showed her how to use her sword, and they let Ceri have a sword again to show her sister how to do it. Brigid wouldn't go for it though, and Ceri ended up finishing her battle for her.
Monday: After I picked Ares up from school we went over to my Grandma and Granddad's house because they had both just come back from Mississippi that Saturday, and I missed them a ton! The girls didn't want to go on the tractor this time, but Ares did. Later on Ares decided to give his sisters licorice sticks so they were both covered! Granddad then tried to get Ares to hold a dead locust, but Ares wouldn't at first. Brigid took it like it was nothing... all I could say was EWWW!!! Since his baby sister could hold it he figured he should toughen up and hold it too, and then he decided to stomp on it.
Tuesday: After I dropped Ares off at school, I took the girls out to go the park next to his school. They had so much fun! Brigid was quite the daredevil and was going down the largest slide with no help from me at all.
Wednesday: We did our science experiment. Now I want you to know that this science experiment did not do what I wanted it to do, but then again I guess that's what science normally does. I had the kids put blue food coloring into a water bottle with oil in it, and mix it up to make it blue. (Ares put in WAY to much blue food coloring, but oh well)
Then I put some red food coloring in another water bottle and shook it up. I then had the kids put the red water in the bottle with the oil. I was hoping that since oil is heavier than water that when we put the water in the bottle it would just sit on top of the oil, and when we shook it, it would then make purple. Instead the water mixed right away with the oil and didn't quite make purple because of how much blue Ares put in it. It was a good try though, and we learned, and that is what science is all about!
Thursday: After Ares' school and tutoring, we did our art project. Since we are K-State Wildcat fans in this house, and their school colors are purple and white, I decided that is what I would do for the art project. First, I outlined a wildcat with masking tape on a piece of poster board.
I then had the kids finger paint all over it with purple paint. They definitely love projects that get them messy!
I let it dry overnight, and this was the finished product. That is my cousin Camden in the picture, he spent the night on Friday, and it wasn't until then that I remembered to take a picture of it finished (I did not ask Camden to hold this up, Dianna, he volunteered!).
That night Ares and I played doctor, and he was showing off his KSU pjs. I didn't have the heart to tell him that if he really wants to be a doctor when he grows up he'd have to go to KU because they are the only ones with a medical program.
Friday: This was the day Ares had been waiting all week for! It was his class fieldtrip to the Sedgwick County Zoo, and his cousin and best friend, Camden was going to spend the night!
My Grandma and Aunt Dianna watched the twins for me while I joined Ares' class for their zoo fieldtrip. Since a lot of parents volunteered, I only had Ares and his friend Gabby in my group. They had so much fun, and we were able to see almost everything in the zoo (our zoo is huge so that is a big feat). I took a lot more pictures of this, and will have to print them out for Gabby's mom. :)
After dinner, Camden arrived! My mom stayed at our house to watch the girls and put them to bed on time, while Kyle and I took the boys to a high school football game. This was the first time we had ever taken Ares to a football game, and the boys had a ton of fun! Luckily our team was the winning team so we had a lot of cheers on our side. Conway Springs won 36- 6 I believe. I didn't quite catch the final score, but I know they creamed them.
Now this picture was on purpose Dianna! Make sure to show Blake, lol! Camden did tell Ares all about the Jayhawks though and that they have blue in their colors, and that made Ares want to be a fan of them right there.
Saturday: Ares and Camden woke up at 7am, and played all morning until we dropped Camden off with his mom. Since our original plans to go over to my mom's to finish putting up the play set fell through because my sister had the stomach bug, we ended up going to Conway Springs for their Fall Festival. This was the first time we had ever taken the kids to a parade before either. They loved it, especially Ares since many of them threw candy, and he normally isn't allowed to eat candy.
Afterwards we went to park, where Fall Fest was being held, and got free ice cream. Then we visited with the library and caught up with Kyle's 2nd cousin Donna. Then we went to the petting zoo where the kids pet a chicken, fed a rooster and a donkey. They then got to hold some adorable fluffy bunnies.
After some hand washing we then walked around. Ares raced some other boys on an inflatable slide, and we almost did bull riding, but decided the line was too long. Then we enjoyed some delicious Gambino's pizza, and caught up with Kyle's cousin Michael and his wife April, and met their new little boy Braydon. I wish he hadn't been asleep so I could have held him, he was so cute!
We then went and visited Kyle's dad's grave, and then visited his Grandpa at the nursing home. He was a little sleepy so we didn't stay very long. We then went home for the twins and Kyle to nap while Ares and I watched some cartoons and played in his room. Then it was off to the bonfire at my Aunt Amy's house out in the country. We roasted hot dogs and brats over the fire pit, they were delicious! Then it was time for some delicious s'mores! YUM! The cousins all played together until it was dark out.
What a fun and busy week we had!
