Sunday, July 13 Today we had to get up early to go to the Renaissance Festival. I have gone with Andy and his mom for the past 3 years, so it is somewhat of a tradition. Anyhow, we got up early, and I was SO not in the mood. For one, my tummy was upset, lotsa gas :( and I didnt want to get out of bed. Andy got up and got showered first, then he got me up when he came back. After awhile, I finally did get up, and got ready by 8:00. Andy's mom wanted to leave between 7:45 and 8, and was a little upset we were behind, but once Andy told her I wasnt feeling well this morning, she calmed down a little. We took off, and she got a little more upset when Andy asked if we could stop at the ATM so he could take money out (mind you, it was on the way) and told him he should have done it the day before (well, he worked until 1am, and this ATM is inside a store that was not open at the hour). Oh well. Oh, Andy's aunt was with us too (his grandma's sister).

So anyways, we got going, and drove up to Fulton, NY where we always stop for breakfast. They have a Golden Corral there, which has a great breakfast buffet, and its always a favorite part of the trip, even though I am not a breakfast eater (at least not at the traditional breakfast time). So, we stopped and ate there. I was a little wary of eating at first, but I did, and I think my stomach was happy.

Around 10am we got going again, to make the rest of the trip to Sterling, NY. Its not that far away, 20 minutes or so, maybe. Its all back roads from there, and lots of hills WEEEEEEE!!! We got to the Festival, and Andy and I had a 'Buy One, Get One Free' ticket, so we got our tickets, and his aunt bought hers (Andy's mom has a Seasons Pass), and then we went in. I always love walking into Ren Fest for the first time, its like you are transformed to a different world. Its just awesome. When I first went, I didnt think it would be my 'thing', and I am still not one of those "Live and Die Ren Fest" people, but it is still cool to go to, and the food is really good.

We go in, and we are waiting for Andy's mom, so we start looking around. The first person Andy's aunt sees is this girl with weird hair and she comments on it. I look over and it turns out to be JEN! She is there with her 2 sister and their parents. I sort of had an idea that she was gonna be there, but I didnt know for sure. Andy's mom arrived soon after, and we walked away as soon as possible. I just didnt want to ruin my day with anything associated with that.

We walked around for awhile, looking at all the artisans and things, and then decided to see Empty Hats, one of our favorite groups there. They were great, as always. We then went to see Hey Nunnie Nunnie, these two "nuns" that do a comic routine and sing songs. They are great too, and had some new stuff this year, which was cool. We sorta lost Andy's mom and aunt at this point, so we decided to go on our own. We walked over and went to go see Don Juan and Miguel's show, but it was pretty packed so we decided to walk around instead.

We ended up walking down by where they do the henna tattoos, and I thought about getting one. I got a frog done last year, and it was really cool, so this year I decided on a monkey. This is what my frog looked like last year... Okay, apparently the file is too large... if anyone knows how to reduce file sizes, let me know! I will definitely post a pic of the monkey when I get home and can upload the pics to my computer. Andy's aunt and mom found us around then, and Andy's mom decided to get a henna as well. She got a dragonfly, and it was done beautifully.

After our henna experience was over, Andy and I decided to walk around and look at the different artisans and what they had to offer. Our favorite place turned out to be the place that sells the rope hammocks. They were super comfortable, and the girl selling them had Andy and I both climb into the same one and chill out for awhile. It was incredible. The double hammock (the one we were in) cost $110. I know my dad's hammock cost my mom a lot more than that, and I swear, if I had the money, I would have bought one right then and there. I got pics of those too, so I will post them once I get home.

We walked around for quite a bit and ended up getting stuff to eat as well. I got a BBQed turkey leg, which was yummy, but messy, then Andy and I got fried dough which was yummy too. We walked around a lot more, then at 4:30 we went down to watch Don Juan and Miguel again. This time we got there somewhat early and got decent seats behind Andy's mom and aunt. They were hilarious as always. We were watching their "Weird Show", which, let me tell you, can get very weird. Its too funny. After Don Juan and Miguel, we decided to go get some more food, Andy got a piece of this chocolate cake, and I got a strawberry banana smoothie, and then we went up to watch Emrys Fleet and his amazing rat and weasel show. Now, his rat and weasel are both fabric filled with cotten, and he makes them do very funny things. I couldnt see real well, but his monologue was pretty good.

When he was over, we moved to get better seats, as the Pubsing would be at this location in a little while. Pubsing is basically the culmination of the days events, and everyone gets together and sings songs (such as Auld Lang Syne - did I spell that right?) and it can get very emotional, and sometimes very rowdy, as it did this past time. It also gets VERY packed, so you have to get seats early. While we were waiting, we talked about getting food, and Andy's aunt wanted some as well. After much debate, Andy decided to get more fried dough, and Andy's aunt and I got apple dumplings... they were SO good! On the way to get the dumplings, I was talking to Andy, facing him and all of a sudden he hushed me... It turns out we were walking right by Jen and her sisters (I was facing away from them) and he didnt want me to talk too loudly so they could hear me. They didnt acknowledge that they saw us, which was good and we went to get the dumplings.

Pubsing started while we were all still eating, but that was okay. We watched and sang along. We knew a couple of the songs, and it was cool just to watch everything going on around you. Its a great way to end the night.

We left after Pubsing, and headed home. We were all pretty tired. It took like 1 1/2 hours to get home. When we got back, Andy and thought of some things we could do, and decided that we were getting sort of hungry. I wanted to get Trios, but they were closed, so we decided to get Little Caesars pizza. The only LC in the area is 20 minutes away in Rome, so we ordered and were on our way. We got there, and since they were closing soon, the guy gave us 3 extra packages of Crazy Bread, which was cool. It ended up not being that warm, or even all that good, for that matter, but it was free so oh well. We ate pizza and Crazy Bread and then decided to go to Blockbuster. We had to return the movies we had rented last week, and ended up getting two more movies, The Game and What Dreams May Come. I had seen WDMC before, and Andy loves TG.

When we got home, it was after midnight, and when we were finally ready for bed, we decided to skip the new movies and just put on Star Wars Episode 1 and get some sleep. We were both pretty tired and didnt want to be too tired to watch the new movies. Andy had to work the next day, but not til 4:30, so we were able to sleep in, which was nice.

then || now