Renassiance Festival

Monday was Labor Day and we decided to go the Renassiance Festival. Steven was not interested in going and I just didn't feel like forcing him and having there with a bad attitude so we left him at home. The weather was beautiful and it ended up being an overall good time. The 3 middle kids dressed up a little. Ben wore his hood and arm cuffs, Lucy wore some steam punk goggles, and Penny wore a pretty "princess" dress. Tyler and Ben got turkey legs which turned out to be more than they could handle but Tyler was very excited because it was his first ever turkey leg at the Renaissance Festival. The girls all made fairy wands and Ruby's wish was to sleep through the night (she had a really bad night Sunday in which she decided she wanted to be awake for an hour in the middle of the night so I was willing to try fairy magic). By the end of our adventure somehow only the ribbon tip of Ruby's wand was left, who knows what happened to the rest of it.

Us girls had to go and see the mermaid- she wasn't in the water this year because it was too cold. I'm suspicious that she might be a fake. Pretty sure water temperature wouldn't affect a mermaid. While we were meeting a mermaid, the boys went to look at swords and various weapons. Tyler really wants a war hammer. After the mermaids the kids watched a "circus sideshow" while I pushed Ruby's stroller back and forth and got her to take a nap. I was not a huge fan of what I saw of the show but the kids thought the guy was hilarious- definitely more for the kids. There was juggling, hammering a spike in a nose, walking on knives barefoot and a 6 foot man eating chicken... I left a little early and watched the "birds or prey" show with sleeping Ruby. Ruby woke up during it and the rest of the kids eventually joined me. Lucy was not impressed with the bird show. She asked me at one point, "Is this show just facts about birds?" It had a lot of those but it also had a really pretty owl, a kookaburra that makes awesome noises, a vulture and a falcon. Penny took a picture with the falcon and the trainer at the end. The trainer recommended she read "Meet Me at the Mountain". Maybe we will have to add that our homeschool books.

We had some time after the shows before the joust so I felt generous (with Tyler's money) and let everyone get up to $20 of something. Lucy chose to get a henna tattoo of an arrow on her arm and Penny decided to get a flower crown. Ben got his later as we were leaving, but he chose a 100 sided DnD die. Lucy posed by the really cool dragon that was by the place he bought his die.

After the shopping it was time to watch the joust. The sun was really shining and even though it wasn't necessarily hot, it did feel like we were all going to get sun cancer. The joust is basically the same every year but the middle 3 love it. This year they rooted for "the bald guy!" He did request they shout that. Ruby wasn't super interested in it but she did want to eat her sister's hair.

When the joust was done, we all decided we had our fill of the festival and headed out and home. It was a really nice outing and the middle 3 are already talking about going next year.

Tuesday it was back to school for the boys and back to homeschool for the girls. Homeschool with the girls this week was still rough, the bad attitudes persisted. On Friday I enacted "Brain Growth" points to try to help turn their frustrations into celebrations. I told the girls that anytime something felt hard or they learned something new that meant their brain was growing and they could get a point and then after they get a certain number of points they can get a brain break (which will probably include a treat). I am hopeful this will help some but I still have a toddler that wants lots of attention.

Tuesday night Ben had a game and since it was at Northern, the girls and I went to watch it. Mariah and her family were there as well. We came later then her family (surprising, I know) and they had sat up high in the stadium. I was not a fan of sitting up high in the stadium because I really had to watch Ruby to make sure she didn't fall and die. Ben's team won the game 5 to 0 and he even got to play for the last 10 minutes which was awesome.

On Wednesday the girls had their first day of electives at Renassiance. I dropped them off and then went and picked up a slide for Ruby (that ended up being smaller than expected) and I picked up the groceries. I did miss having the kids there to help me unload all of the groceries but other than that, it was really nice just being me and Ruby. At lunch time Grace and Caroline came over for a visit. Ruby woke up from her morning nap during it and ate some food and wasn't too attention hungry so it was a nice visit. Cherish picked up my girls from school for Geli's birthday so that was nice, They seemed to have a good time celebrating Geli---except Penny got in the car and cried because she felt Luna and Mimi were leaving her out. I don't know if that's true or if she is just feeling that way because they are still in class on Tuesdays and Thursdays together and she is not.

Friday,Tyler and I had some frustrations with Steven. He is dragging his feet over finding a job and it finally came to a head. He basically lost his computer until he either finds a job or starts making more of an effort. It was not a fun fight for any of us and Ben had Andrea over, so she got to witness it too. She really is becoming part of the family. That evening we- Lucy, Ben, Andrea and me- watched, "When a Stranger Calls". It's become a bit of a tradition for us to watch "old" movies in the evening. It had a slow start but I think in the end they really enjoyed it.

Saturday morning Ben had another soccer game and it was at Walled Lake Central so Tyler and I went to watch it while Lucy and Penny stayed home to watch Ruby (Ruby was napping). This was a fun game to watch, even though Ben didn't get to play. The teams were very evenly matched and the game ended tied- 0 to 0. At the end they did penalty kicks to determine the winner and Ben's team won again. After the game Ben's coach came up to him and let him know that he would be playing him more. I don't know exactly what "more" entails but it sounds like a step in the right direction. While we were at the game Mariah came and took Steven out with her to run errands. I just had this strong feeling that he needed some time out and away from us, with someone who was not frustrated with him and loves him lots. I think this was a good choice. He came back in a better mood and more ready to communicate with us about the job situation.

Later that day Tyler and Ben went to Northern to practice some soccer (since Ben hadn't gotten to play). Ruby and I tagged along with them so Ruby could get some time outside. She had fun walking around the football field, playing in the bleachers and we did a little walk around the track. I even jumped a hurdle just to see if I could and I was successful. But there were some taller hurdles that probably would have killed me.

Saturday afternoon I was having a bit of a mommy melt down- I was just tired and needed a break from the kids- so Tyler watched them while I went and strolled some shops. I found some things I wanted but they weren't on sale so I just couldn't justify buying them. I made a stop at Culver's on my way back home to get some pretzel bites because I was major craving them but sadly, after I had already driven away, I opened the box to discover chicken tenders instead. I knew it had felt unusually heavy.