-Oh, The Fun We Had-
. Though there have been many cool things worth blogging about, I just can't seem to find the time to do it. And when I do stumble upon a nice chunk of time, I really don't want to do anything but veg. But, I feel it is time to talk about some of the cool things John and I have done in the past few weeks. Here it goes:
. Medieval TimesDuring my time in Schaumburg for John's Art Camp, I wanted us to do something fun for our anniversary week. Since most of my time would be at the hotel, I thought we could end the trip doing something cool. John mentioned that they were taking the kids to Medieval Times as one of their fun activities so this intrigued me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect or how much I would like it. I had heard some good things about it from our friend Jaime (yep, that's how it's spelled) so I was looking forward to it. Once John returned from his time there with the kids all full from eating and hoarse from screaming, I was pumped. We reserved tickets for that Friday night and even upgraded for the royalty treatment. When we arrived, we took our picture with the King and were given crowns tying us to the Blue Knight. While waiting to be seated we looked at swords, watched birthday people as they were knighted for the night, and even ran into the former Jen Fulkerson with her husband. And because this night was soo special, John even bought me a silk-lit flower.
Awww. Once we were seated (front row of our section, baby) we were greeted with all the perks of being royalty. Commemorative programs, blue banners, and a DVD featuring behind the scenes footage. The tournament of stalwart Knights began. We were given the back story and setting for the tournament taking place and introduced to all the players. As we cheered for our blue knight through contests of sport and battle against the other knights, we were served the most delicious feast of monumental proportions. The bill of fare included garlic bread, vegetable soup, roasted chicken, spare rib, herb-basted potato, and an apple pie like pastry. All of it was absolutely delicious. And of course in keeping with the times, all of it was eaten with our hands. I really could go on and on trying to describe the events of the night. But honestly, you have to actually experience it in order to do it justice. I'll end by saying that when I sat down, I sort of felt like a big fat nerd getting all excited over something like this. But by the end of the night, I was screaming and waving my cheap banner as if it were the most natural thing. Really a great night. John and I agreed that the only thing that could enhance the experience is getting a bunch of our friends together to share it with.
.Starved RockJohn and I took a trip here with our friend Hannah. We just decided to hop in the car and take a mini road trip to somewhere for the day. Hannah and I didn't even know where we were headed until we were almost there. I won't say too much about Starved Rock because John is suppose to blog about it himself along with pictures from the day. I will say that it was a pretty cool way to spend the 4th of July. And even though we got drenched by the unexpected storm that came through, it was totally worth it. Before we headed out that morning, we decided that part of our trip had to include a stop at a greasy spoon we'd never been to before. We ended up at Woody's Family Restaurant in El Paso, IL. Not as "greasy" as we were anticipating but the food was still pretty good.
.Shakespeare FestivalThanks to Barry Hudek, John and I were invited to hang with him and Rob(b) for a night of good theater. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that the festival took place in Bloomington. Luckily the rain stayed away and we were able to enjoy
Twelfth Night with all of its humor and mistaken identity. We were definitely reminded that Shakespeare was meant to be performed and not read. The actors were great. Even though I still didn't understand every word spoken, their physical performance was more than enough to carry the meaning of their words. But honestly, it wasn't really the performance of
Twelfth Night that made the time soo great. It had more to do with being outside under the night sky watching live theater being performed. I don't know the last time I've gotten to see live theater like that. It was nice to be eating ice cream with friends hearing them laugh aloud at what they saw and heard. It was about hearing myself chuckle at those same things. I find myself having the hardest time writing about this because I think my enjoyment came out of something very intangible. All I know is that I look forward to doing this again next year.
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So that brings us up to today. The next thing I'm looking forward to is crashing the Barnes & Noble Harry Potter midnight party they have for the kids. We still need to check and see if they are having one in Springfield. I sure hope so. I think Hannah will be joining us for this as well. If we do get to go, I'll be sure to write about all the kids and describe what actually goes on at these things. Maybe I'll get John to do it instead. He seems much better at relaying past events. I think it makes for a better read anyway.
.Song of the day: Opera Singer by Cake
shawanda
6:30 PM
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