Medieval Times

What:  Medieval Times:  Dinner and Tournament

Where:  Arundel Mills near Baltimore, MD in the Castle of King Phillippe, Prince Tristan, and Princess Leonore.  (Be sure to check for coupons and discounts. Daddy had 50% off)

At Medieval times there are knights, horses, a king, a prince, a princess, Lords, and Ladies.  In the beginning, the prince is captured by an unknown knight.  The princess and King are worried and send out a rescue mission.  At the door, each person was given a crown to where with  a color.  That represented the knight they would be cheering on to victory.  We were in the black and white Knight section.   There are 6 knights, the red, yellow, red and yellow, black and white, blue, and green.  The black and white knight was “Don Iofre Santa Creu is the defender of the ancient shrine at Santiago de Compostela. Adorned in Black & White, he is mightiest in skill among an order of warrior priests whose arrival upon the field brings despair to the impure of heart.”

There were several acts that involved horses and riders.  Together they were beautiful.  The horses were “Quarter Horses, Friesians and Menorcans, as well as the Pure Spanish Horses we breed. The Pure Spanish Horse was prized by medieval royalty for its astonishing strength, agility and even temperament.”  I loved the huge, black Friesian horse the most!

The knights have a tournament.  They first had a contest where they had to grab rings with their jousting sticks.  Second, they had to race their horse towards a target and throw their joust hoping to get a bulls-eye.  Third and last, they had a jousting fight.  It was green vs. blue, blue vs. red and yellow, red and yellow vs. white and black, white and black vs. green.  Then the green knight showed his true colors, he was the one whom had captured the prince.  In the end the prince and black and white knight defeated the green knight in a great battle. 

During the show, we were served dinner.  It was yummy!  We had tomato soup (which I declined), garllc breac, oven-roasted chicken (also called baby dragons), a spare rib, baked potato, and a apple tart.  We could choose Pepsi or Tea.

My throat was sore after the show.  I yelled and cheered my knight to victory.  I was so proud that he won.  It was one of the best nights of my life.  After the show, I was given a yellow carnation kissed by the black and white knight.  I will press it and keep it in a scrapbook forever.

Our Trip to Southern Virginia

We went to Williamsburg, VA.  We went to a really cool antique mall.  Josiah loved all of the model trains.  I liked looking at brooches and even bought a pretty flower one for myself.  Mom bought some really cute stockings.  We went to Goodwill to pick up some swimsuits because the hotel had an indoor swimming pool. Daddy took us swimming once and he really liked the jacuzzi.  I thought it was too hot!
One day we went to Jamestown.  We got to see the Indian village.  They were the Pohowtan Indians on the James River.  We went into a few of the huts.  We got to feel animal pelts such as bear, deer, squirrel, raccoon, skunk, fox, wolf, and opossum.  The Indians slept on platforms that were covered in deer skin.  I laid on one and it was soft.  Some of the tools the Indians used were gourds for bowls, turkey feathers for dusters, and oyster shells for spoons.
There were four ships, one was much larger than the others.  On the biggest one, we went inside the cabin.  We saw the bunks for the crew.  The settlers had to sleep on mattresses on the floor and on the cargo.  Josiah and I both got to move the steering device.  There were people dressed as the settlers that answered questions and demonstrated ship activities.
Then we went into the fort.  There were a bunch of chickens running around and two big roosters.  There were many buildings at the Fort.  We first talked to the doctor.  He pretended he had been shot in the hand with an arrow.  We used special forceps to remove the arrowhead.  He also told us about plants they would have used for medicine.  Then we talked to the leather men.  They were having trouble opening their tool box.  They used the leather for mugs, knife holders, and 'man purses'.  They had a variety of colors and types of leather including:  kid, sheep, ox, and deer.  There was a warehouse full of huge barrels and farming tools.  There was an armory where they had pikes, swords, and guns.  A man was sewing cartridges onto his bandoleers.  He explained what and why he was sewing.  Then we went to the church.  We saw a funny skit where I was knighted the Loin of Beef.  Then a man played a historic fiddle.  He played really well!  It was awesome.  After that, we went over to the forge and spoke with the female blacksmith.  She was making nails and let Josiah and I pump the bellows.
One day we went to Yorktown.   The museum there is about the Revolutionary War.  We went through the museum.  There was a fun room where we got dress up.  I put on several outfits along with some UGLY shoes.  Josiah tried on clothes but they were mostly too big.  Then we watched a movie about the surrender of the English at Yorktown.  Behind the museum there was a troop encampment.  There were many tents.  We got to see them shoot a musket and a mortar gun.  We talked to man about making cartridges.  He helped us make one with a clay musket ball and sand for gun powder.  Another man told us about the wives and children that would follow the army around the country.  We got to see the cooking pit and learn about the food they ate.  I thought it was really gross!  On the side of the museum was a farm.  On the farm we got to see a big, fat turkey.  There were female turkeys, a peahen, ducks, chickens, and a guinea hen.  In one of the houses, a man played some Christmas music.  He had a recorder, a penny flute and a guitar.
We also went to Busch Gardens.  It was all pretty and decorated for Christmas.  First we saw a musical by the Sesame Street characters.  They had to explain Christmas to Abby Cadabby.  She had never heard of "Sandy" Claus and didn't know any of the Carols.  They told her the meaning of Christmas is spending time with ones you love.  It made me feel sad that they never mentioned the birth of Jesus as being the reason why we celebrate Christmas.  After the show we went and rode some rides.  We rode the Le Catapult which spun us around in circles.  It was a lot of fun.  Then we rode the carousel.  I got on a pretty horse, then decided I would be better off on the bench that didn't move up and down.  Then we saw a HUGE Christmas tree complete with fake snow falling from the top of the buildings.  Josiah rode the little bumper cars and I waited a LONG time to ride the big ones.  Josiah also rode on a little airplane ride.  We stood in line forever to see the dinner theater.  There were some people on stage that sang and danced while we ate supper.  We rode on two different trains to take us around the park.  Then we rode on the Flight of Lights.  It is like a ski lift.  At first I was scared, but then I loved seeing everything from up high.  We were almost done when the ride stopped.  We were stuck way up in the air for about 20 minutes before they got it restarted.  I was glad to be back on the ground!!
It was a really fun trip and I was sad when we had to leave.  Hopefully we can go again sometime!!

The Trip around D.C.

Today we went to the Metro so we could go to a museum.  We also had fun at the Metro (I liked getting gum to help our ears pop).  We used the red and blue lines.  Mom tip:  plan your route ahead of time.  The kids like to count how many more stops we have before we get out. 
At the Museum of Natural History, we saw a big whale, a big elephant, and a huge mammoth!  There was a yuckly looking femal Giant Squid.  We got to see dinosaur bones too.  There were many types of dinosaurs including brontosaurus, stegosaurus, and triceratops.  They had a kid's zone in the dinosaur area with fossilized teeth, eggs, leaf imprints, footprints, and more.  There was a Fossil Lab where you can see the scientists work. I thought it was cool that they use the same instruments as my Daddy, a dentist.  I also got to touch fossils, purple quartz, a meteorite, and a triceratops sculpture.  Dressing up in clothes from around the world was fun!  There was lots of crystals there too (which I LOVED).  There was a huge globe with a video of the ocean.  We walked through the Mammal Hall which has life sized animals.  The giraffe has it's long tongue sticking out and Momma said mine is longer :).  I really like going to all of the gift shops. Mom tip:  the museum will let you bring in bottled water and small snacks like peanut butter crackers and fruit roll-ups.  The Museum is free, but the cafe is EXPENSIVE so I recommend lots of snacks!
We also visited the Smithsonian Castle where we like to see the large map of the National Mall.   When we went back on the Metro people were reading, sleeping, listening to music, doing puzzles, and looking around like me.