TexRen Fest

This weekend, we attempted our first outing since arriving in Texas. Most of our days have been filled with house hunting, so it was nice to spend a full day seeing a bit of the countryside and enjoying outdoor activities. While sports (namely football), are a gigantic pastime here, we opted for a more eclectic option. The Renaissance Festival!!

Many moons ago, we enjoyed the renaissance festivals in Atlanta and rural Florida, while we moved around with Chris in the service. We always loved watching the people, costumes and just the fun of feeling like we walked onto a movie set. It's a fun place to soak in some history and be in an unassuming environment where people can relax and be different. We heard lots of hokey accents, but loved that everyone shared the freedom to be with other like-minded people. It's also important to us for our girls to be in this kind of imaginative, fun and open environment.

There was a great crowd for this weekend's Pirate Days at the festival. The festival park is a permanent site with several weekends of themed events, which you can check out more about here. Buildings for shops, theaters and games line the park with intermingled areas for jousting, music events, parades and more.

(must read the above left sign + see Chris's feeling of kid rides... we're old)

Ceiba can't pass a face painting stand without begging. She and Avocet also spent time on rides, ponies and learning how to fly an arrow. Ceiba got a bow to go with her Halloween costume. 

She already had a second lesson in the backyard tonight. May be a new hobby! 

Chris got to brush up on his Camp Ondessonk badges. 

We all enjoyed some music, bluegrass and bag pipes. 

No one in this family can hold still around a good beat!

The nice shell lady adorned the girls with beads. 

 Be sure to check it out of you're in the Houston area this fall!