crafterhours

sleeping babes. crafting moms.

Getting Medieval on the Kids

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In stark contrast to Adrianna’s 6 year old who loves pink and sparkly and “fashion“, mine loudly and proudly exclaims “I’m a tomboy!” The extent of her girliness includes the fact that she wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday and that she chose pink sparkly hearts as her first earrings. Fancy dresses and princesses are not her thing. But knights and princes? She’s into. (Remember this costume?)
Last month we went to one of those giant consignment sales held at the county fairgrounds, and while walking around and looking at alllll of the offerings including tons of froofy dress-ups, she chose a set that included this:
A friend who knows her well saw that Medieval Times was looking for bloggers to share their experiences, and sent the contact info. Going to one of their castles had been on our to-do list for a while and since we’re about to move a whole lot farther from one, I knew that this was our moment. And we were able to bring our nearest and dearest neighbors who we’d been talking for years with about going. Literally years. This friend is one with photography skills and a way better camera for low light than mine, so many of these photos are hers.
By going to the show, you get dinner and almost two hours of entertainment. I’d always focused on the entertainment aspect and never thought much about the dinner, but dinner itself was much better than I expected, especially considering they’re literally serving the same meal to 500 people all at the same time. Everything was appropriately hot, well seasoned and served quickly. Tomato soup, garlic bread, roast chicken, BBQ rib, potato wedges and an apple pastry for dessert. Pepsi, unsweetened tea, water and coffee to drink– unless you head out to the bar for an adult beverage. Which included frozen drinks. Didn’t know they had those in 1500’s Spain?
One of the things I read repeatedly about Medieval Times is that you don’t get utensils. You eat with your hands like back in the day. But with those little hand wipes. The adults seem to be kind of “eh” about it, but the kids didn’t even notice. Not a word.

Then again, I think they were distracted. When the first white horse came out I’m told K said to her Dad “Is that a hologram?”

“What do you think?” he replied.

“Yes, it’s a hologram” she said, quite sure of it. It did make for a breathtaking start to the show.

I’m not a “horse person” per se, but these were pretty impressive. I was also impressed that I never smelled the horses. Because if I had I don’t think I would have enjoyed my dinner as much.
4yo M was the one who was really, really excited about the princess. There’s one in the show who wears a long white gown, and the second the princess emerged M screamed “I LOVE HER!”. Well, okay then. Got it.

I employed the panoramic function on my iPhone to capture this view of the arena. You can click on this image to enlarge it. You can see how the arena is divided into colored section and each section cheers on their relatedly dressed knight. And each section is given coordinated hats.

THIS is the reason I came. To watch these two BFFs get into the cheering and excitement of it. Like any dinner show scenario, it has its cheesy moments, but they loved every second of it, and I loved watching them love it and cheer like crazy fools.

We were in the red and yellow section, and our knight made a valiant effort. (But lost. Sorry red and yellow knight, I’m sure the next show will be better. Also sorry that the 4yo refused to cheer for you. Green’s just more her color.)

After the show, these guys put on their own show.
Little L’s favorite part is when the knights pretend to lay down and die. He must’ve repeated this 10 times. So funny. Especially with his Captain America shield.
As soon as we came home from the show K started doing what she does. By the following morning she’d designed the costume that I’m told I’m responsible for making.  I’m taking my time getting around to it because I know that the longer she has to think about it, the more detail she’ll add and she’ll tweak the design here and there. She was also careful to add detail about what she didn’t want it to look like. She’s helpful like that. While she’s waiting for me to get busy making it she’s been busy with her own makeshift combinations of tees and leggings and clothespins and towels. She is fueled up for a while!
She has invited us to her own medieval show… in her room, of course.
If you have kids who soak up experiences like this to feed their creative imagination, I’d recommend checking it out. I was slightly hesitant to accept the tickets — I knew that there was significant room for cheese factor that might be too much for me. But I’m so glad I agreed to go and to share it here. K has been talking about it and creating from it nonstop. The Medieval Times website has all of the info on where to find their castles and when the shows are.
Adrianna was convinced I’d go in full costume. Maybe more practical for next time when I’m not 7+ months pregnant– I left the show for the restroom 3 times in 2 hours.

Have you been to Medieval Times? Or are you planning to go?

Comments

  1. Niki says

    That looks like so much fun! My kids would die happy to go. Gotta figure out if there is one in the Detroit area . . .

    Reply

    • crafterhours says

      Closest looks like maybe Toronto? A nice summer drive from Detroit! We lived in East Lansing for 2 years– I love Michigan in the summer! (No reason to talk about the winter…)

      Reply

  4. Beth says

    Have you discovered the book, Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke? It’s about a girl-knight. i think my tomboy daughter might have it memorized.

    Reply

  5. Shannon says

    We have a Medieval times about a 20 min. drive away at a local mall. I’ve “thought” about taking the kids every time I pass it, especially for our boys, but I have to admit that the potential “horsey” smell (ie. circus) over a dinner was a turn off. I’m so happy to know the place is well ventilated. Ha! Ha! I may have to reconsider. (They [the horses] are really beautiful)Great pics.

    Reply

  6. Kelli says

    My kids LOVE to do shows for us! So glad to hear we’re not alone. There’s a Medieval Times about 20 minutes from my Mom and Dad and just yesterday my husband suggested we take our two this summer. I haven’t been in years–I think it’ll be fun to go again.

    Reply

  7. Tara says

    oh man, both of my kids would love going to something like this. My almost 3 year old daughter is the one who is into princes and tomboy things, and my 4 year old daughter the princesses and castles. They would certainly come back with all sorts of demands for costumes too. haha. so fun

    Reply

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