Family Vacation - Medieval Times

So our most extravagant activity of vacation actually happened our first night. We took the kids to Medieval Times. They weren't really sure what to expect at first until we drove up to the castle! Immediately they all wanted to know if this is where real princes and princesses live...of course it is!


We stood in line to be seated and were able to take a family picture with Princess Leonore herself. I can't believe how incredibly happy Tara looks in this picture


We were all assigned to cheer for the black and white knight, and were given the head gear to prove it...even if most of us weren't wearing it!


I was a bit concerned about how this evening would go during the hour we were supposed to walk around the great hall. Ian fell asleep in the car and is always SOOO pleasant when he is woken up. I think you can see in this picture that I am wearing the classic mom look that some of you are familiar with: this-should-be-fun-so-I'll-paste-this-smile-on-until-it-is-fun.


It was fun to see all the knights ride in on their horses, watch the horses do amazing tricks, jousting, sword play, etc. It was an exciting evening.


Our knight was very heroic, but unfortunately no match for the evil green knight. I thought Tara was going to cry and Eric might loose his voice forever when our black and white knight was killed.


It was hilarious to hear the kids cheer. Ian kept yelling at the bad guy, the green knight. His dialogue went like this, "Green knight you are stupid. Mom tell him he is dumb. Go away green knight." It was funny to hear him yelling at the top of his lungs the meanest things he could think of. Tara was yelling her heart out and Eric was too mesmerized to move...literally I don't think he moved all night long. Even Amy got into the action and clapped and squealed on cue!


It was interesting to see how the kids reacted to their meal. Ian was stoked that he didn't have to use silverware to eat his dinner. Eric had to be reminded there was food to eat. Tara was concerned (to put it lightly) when they served her raw chicken. It wasn't raw, but she assumed since they plopped down half a chicken on her plate that it was. In our house when chicken is cooked it is in bite size pieces! It was difficult to get Tara to eat her food until I tore it apart into pieces (by reaching across 3 kids...Jared was as involved as Eric..I swear!) When dinner was over and we were leaving, we asked Tara what she thought about the evening and the food. She told us, "we need to have that kind of chicken at home and we can watch wrestling while we eat." I guess wrestling is the closest thing to jousting she could think of!

This is how you know that the kids had a good time! Yes, there are three carseats in the back seat of my minivan!


As we were leaving the kids were already talking about the next time, ha! I hope they don't hold their breath!

Thanks Medieval Times for a MAGICAL night!