Mason and I got to the Norman Medieval Fair around 11am yesterday. It’s probably been a decade since I last went to the fair, which has (at least) doubled in size. Despite the monstrous crowd, parking was fairly manageable — and free (as is the fair itself).

I guess we parked on the food vending side, because when we walked in all I saw were people selling “Ye Olde Indian Tacosâ€? and “The Kings Corndogsâ€?. (I just made those names up.) Other than one or two booths of people selling knives, we didn’t see anything medieval-related and I was afraid the day was going to be a bust.

As we walked further into the grounds we started finding all kinds of cool stuff. There were lots of minstrels walking around the grounds, playing songs and singing. In fact, there was music everywhere being played on all kinds of instruments from dulcimers and harps to mandolins and flutes and of course lots of drums.

Mason wasn’t too sure what to think of the people in costumes. He was particularly afraid of this one guy who was dressed as a dirty peasant or something (picture later). I kept telling Mason that the guy probably delivered pizzas the other 364 days a year, but that didn’t matter. Sometimes Mason acts so mature when he talks that I forget he really is a 4-year-old, and that he still gets afraid of things that older kids would just laugh at.

On one of the stages was a guy was doing all sorts of neat acrobatic tricks.

You see stuff like this on television all the time, but it’s not until you’re standing ten feet from a guy that you can really appreciate how difficult some of these tricks are. At one point the guy was balancing on top of a ten-foot ladder, spinning a plate on his face and swinging rings with his arms. Somewhere, mama’s proud. After watching the act for a while Mason got thirsty so we paid $5 for two small drinks and headed over to a picnic table to hang out with some hot medieval wenches.

All the costumes we saw were great. Mason was surprised when he turned around to see this tree fairy standing right behind him. We stepped away and snapped this picture.

And below is the scary peasant guy that scared Mason. Right before this picture was taken, the guy said he would dance a little jig if the guy in the blue shirt hit the thing hard enough with a mallet to ring the bell. He did, three times, and each time the peasant danced a little jig while the crowd cheered.

Finally, we found Mason’s favorite part of the fair. Ye old playground.

Mason spent another half an hour running, climbing, and swinging on this huge fort-like playground. When he was done, he was really done. We both began whining about how hot it was and how much our feet hurt. After making one last trip around the grounds we heading back to the truck. From there it was time for lunch at Goldies, and then home for a well deserved nap.

As we got into the truck to come home, I told Mason “If I were you, I’d lean back, close my eyes, and take a little nap on the way home.â€?

Mason replied, “if I were you, I’d drive the car.â€?

Point taken.