Yesterday, since the Monster didn’t have school and we had a kind invite from my SiL to join them, we wandered off to the Renaissance Festival.

My wife and I have gone almost every year since we started dating (and each of us went separately in college).  We’ve really not gone all dressed-up since we had the kids – it’s very hard to tolerate wandering about in garb when you’re pushing a stroller with a fussy child or wearing an Ergo – but it’s still a lot of fun in general.And, despite the potential for a disaster, I think that the day went fairly well.  It was very hot, and we managed to make it back to the car just before it started pouring, but all in all, it was a lot of fun.

We were mindful of the Monster’s limits.  He’s not usually inclined to sit still for very long without making noise, so we tended towards the shows where no one would notice if he was being fidgety or making some noise.  He did like the drum-and-bagpipe act that we saw on one of the stages, and sat (mostly) still for a presentation of “Goldilocks” where our nephew Z volunteered to participate.  He was tolerant of being taken about to other things, to the occasional stand in line, and was mostly good on the playground that’s at the back of the site, not withstanding the one time he fell down a wooden staircase.

Now, we did prepare a lot of things to ensure success – we brought along plenty of drinks for him, and packed a lunch so that we could be guaranteed that he’d have something to eat when the time was right.  We also took his headphones for once, and they did get a lot of use to help tone down the louder noises.  And when he started showing signs that his patience was running thin (and to be fair, R’s was as well), we left the faire.

Most importantly – we both also recognized before going that it was likely to happen this way. 😉  We bought two-day passes so that she and I can go back, sans kids, and go see the acts and booths we didn’t have a chance to sample…