Last week I took the kids to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire where we met some church friends.  Usually I would not have thought this particular event worth the cost of admission, especially since you have to pay for all the attractions individually.  But my friend Shelli organized us as a homeschooling group, and we went on the special school day, so it was much more reasonable.  My favorite part was the food.  I wish I could have just eaten my way through the different booths.  I only ended up with Kettle Korn and fresh squeezed lemonade for the kids, because turkey legs and gyros seemed like too much hassle with three children.  The kids had fun, and I enjoyed the people watching.  There are some interesting people at medieval fairs. Haha!  I’ll leave it at that.  If you’ve ever been to one, you know exactly what I mean.  Here are some pics.

Lucy and Joel Germeroth holding hands..little buddies!

Connor was brave to ride this dragon all by himself

Connor tried his best to "bump a monk"

Tyler loved riding his pony

Avy May riding a pony with her mommy (Loren)

Connor got to ride a real camel

Lucy and I rode an elephant!

Tyler and Avy May

Connor won a prize on this game

Lucy played too

Joel and Lucy

Tim and I have a special way of describing our children that, for us, encapsulates what it’s like watching our babies grow up.  We’ll watch our children sleeping or playing or reading or eating, and one of us will to say to the other, either, “He’s having a big moment” or “She’s having a little moment.”  As a parent who sees all my children for about twelve hours every single day, I sometimes miss the fact that they’re growing up.  Conversely, I also sometimes expect them to act older than they are.  When someone is having a “big moment,” it means that child either is looking more grown up or acting more grown up, and the opposite is true for the “little moment.”

The pictures below are from the time of Tyler’s almost pneumonia, during the plumbing debacle.  My mini-man is now 2 years old and has (finally!) had a vocabulary explosion.  He seems so grown up.  But in these pictures I’m reminded of how small he still is.  He was definitely having a “little moment.”

Connor:  “If there were no such thing as Legos, if they didn’t exist, then I wouldn’t like them and I wouldn’t play with them.  I would just fall in love with something else.”

Conversation at dinner one night:

Connor:  Mommy, I think you have a piece of rice in your hair.

Me: It’s probably a white hair.

Connor:  Having white hair means you’re growing old.  You don’t want that.

Me:  I don’t mind growing old.

Connor:  You don’t mind growing old unless you grow so old you die.

Me:  If I die, I’ll be in heaven with Jesus, so that will be good.  But if I died young, I would be sad to leave you, because who would take care of all of you?

Connor:  Daddy would.

Lucy:  Not if he goes at the same time.

Connor (to me):  Maybe right before you’re about to die, we could all hold hands and die together.

Me:  That’s not the way it works.

Lucy:  What about Tyler?  He doesn’t like holding hands.

Last Thursday (Wow..I can’t believe it’s already been a week…i get behind so easily), Tim and I took Connor and Lucy to Legoland.  My mom graciously agreed to travel to Gainesville and watch Tyler for the day, so that we could just take the two older kids.  We had a great time.  C and L loved the rides and the fact that almost everything was made of legos or at least looked like it was.  We were able to go for just $20, as part of our homeschool co-op field trip. Can’t beat a deal like that.  The weather was beautiful if a little on the warm side for January, and we really enjoyed exploring the park and spending time with friends.  Connor rode on all four of the park’s roller coasters!  Lucy rode one and then refused to consider repeating the experience on the others.  She was screaming “I want to get off!” the whole time, and Tim described her facial expression at the end as “a look of angry betrayal.”  Haha!  Poor Lu.  I was proud of her for trying it.  Be sure to check out this link for a video of Connor’s Coastersaurus experience.  Enjoy the pics 🙂

I made it into a picture 🙂

Looking over the Kennedy Space Center made of legos

Lu driving the lego car

Marianne and Darya

Tim and Lu (Man, those boats were hard to steer!)

Captain Connor

Lego dinosaur

Jousting horse ride

Lucy's favorite ride (and the one that made me nauseated...haha!)

The young and hip parents 🙂 (Notice Tim's Transformer sunglasses borrowed from Connor)

Joel and Marianne