Silver Leaf ROCKS!

We went to the Silver Leaf Renaissance Faire on Saturday over by Kalamazoo. First let me say that last year we went to the Michigan Renaissance Festival, and it sucked ass. If you want to hang out with drunks and suck in enough cigarette smoke to leave you coughing for days, then by all means, visit the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Yes, it might be a nice place to visit if you don't have children, but it is by no means a family-friendly event.

Silver Leaf, on the other hand, most definitely is. Our Saturday started out with Mel, Connor, and Duncan sleeping in until 8:30 a.m. (Dominic and I had gotten up around 6:30 and we were both already bathed and dressed). We managed to get everyone ready and out the door by 10 a.m., no small feat for our troop.

The drive there (a little over an hour), was pleasant. Breakfast was had in the car (bagel sandwiches from Quality Dairy). Other than stopping to clean off Duncan (who I think might get car sick...he keeps throwing up when we go on long car rides), there were no delays and the trip went smoothly.

We were really surprised by how friendly everyone was. Everyone was smiling and waving to us, from the people sitting in the parking lot directing traffic to the vendors inside. The cost for us to get in (just shy of $30) wasn't bad, and everything was very reasonably priced. Connor and I went on a barrel ride (which is supposed to be filled with much spinning and swinging, but poor Connor's knuckles were turning white the minute we started moving fast, so ours was a very relaxing, no spinning, gentle swinging ride).

After that, Dominic and Connor fenced each other. They had masks, and jackets (which had to be duct taped on), foils that were as big as they are with a tack duct taped to the end of them. The masks had balloons taped to the top of them and the idea was to pop your opponent's balloons. It lasted about 5 minutes, but it was too funny to watch!

Then we just walked around, taking in the sites and trying to catch glimpses of the vendors' booths as the boys pulled us past. I'd love to go back without the boys so Mel and I could do some shopping.

The boys also went on a carousel ride (which again, almost made Connor sick, poor boy - but he's such a trooper about it, said he had fun and wanted to do it again). Dominic and Connor also played some of the little carnival activities, and Connor won a pirate sword and eye patch.

By that point it was around 1:30 p.m., people were hungry, tired, hot, and sweaty. We wanted to eat there, but the boys were really crashing hard so we left. They slept the whole way home and we stopped and got Burger King for them when we got back into Lansing. Mel made fajitas for the two of us (which were fantastic...he's such an amazing chef!). And we finished the day off with ice cream and whipped topping for dessert. It was a great day, and another good practice session for Disney. :0)