Renaissance Festival

After many attempts to go to Ren Fest this year, today we actually got there.

We were so excited for Sydney to walk around wearing her little fairy wings, but it was so muddy we left her in the stroller most of the afternoon.

There was this great little kids area, the Enchanted Realm, where she could be a kid & run around. Here she is on the dragon bridge totally "enchanted" by the bagpipe band playing just outside.
There was a magic frog, a dragon, and a black cat and she totally freaked out when she saw them. She even used the word "awesome" while she was running around. Seriously, "awesome"! She'll repeat almost anything these days, so we really have to watch our tongue! Here's the wizard that tested Sydney's magic wand. She was hesitant to go in by herself, so I went in with her. She got so shy, she wouldn't say "hocus pocus", so I had to say it for her to get the magic started. Then this poof of air sprays out of the tree stump & he declares that her wand is working.


We never take picts together. Maybe in a year or two Syd will be able to work the camera. Until then, we're left to these self portraits that are off center, and we're trying to squeeze in while looking down & making a double chin. I won't be blowing this up to a 11x14 and framing it for the living room, but it will have to do for now.

Little Mermaid
Lovin' the XXL pickle! I guess this is a Ren Fest tradition, since she loved it last year too. Tricky, tricky. She pretends to share, and then she snatches the pickle back & giggles.

We were all impressed by the artful fountains. Syd really wanted to get out & splash in the water, but there was just too much mud. Another cutie fairy!

The Halloween Pick, & A Day in the Life of Sydney

And the winner is.....

The COW!!!!

Okay, so there wasn't actually a cow on the list. We really appreciated everyone's votes. We did buy the duck (I think #2), but then discovered we are going to a Halloween party where the parent's need to be in costume as well. It turns out that my bro-in-law & his wife have 2 adult size cow costumes from a few years back, and they're willing to let us borrow them.

The cow is a good choice for other reasons as well. When Sydney sings Old MacDonald, every time the only animal on the farm is a cow. She loves to moooo when she's dressed up in it, and she's pretty excited to tell people she's a cow for Halloween (dowadeen).
We haven't taken many pictures lately, so these are just some random ones from yesterday & today.

Here's Syd putting on her shoes before leaving for Paula's (pa-pa). Actually, we've just started a Friday morning tradition. Jeff meets his buddies at Starbucks for breakfast every Friday morning, so now Sydney & I are going to start having a girls breakfast at McDonald's. I got tickled because when I told her "Mommy & Sydney are going to breakfast at McDonald's" she replied w/ "E-I-E-I-O". And last night....you can see how crazy her hair gets during the day here. I call it post-nap hair. Its not quite as crazy as bed head, but its not as put together as morning hair.

Sydney's new thing is wearing her hats around the house & kissing her toys. She announces her action before doing it. Like in the picture below she had just said "tissy choo-choo train".
Tissy NizzyGetting ready to go to the park this morning. Jeff is at volleyball today, which is something that will be ramping up over the next 8 months, so I need to have more Mommy & Sydney fun things planed for our nights & weekends.