Medieval Daze

If you live in, or plan to visit, Central New York during the summer, I highly recommend spending a day at the Sterling Renaissance Festival.  I've been taking Tiernen since she was about three years old.  My mother was visiting from Oregon, and even before the boys arrived, the plan was to attend that weekend and bring Bram.  Now that the boys were here, I didn't think it was necessary to change our plans.  

I did not think this through.  

I dressed the boys in similar, but not matching, outfits:  Batman shirts and camouflage shorts.  They looked cute, but no one was going to mistake Bram and Baby O for twins (Bram with his blonde hair and blue eyes; Baby O with his black curly hair and dark brown eyes).  I packed the very large diaper bag and we were off!

But not without some "issues." 

Issue #1:  Cars.  My SUV was not equipped for three car seats, let alone four adults, so we had to bring two cars.  Right away, Darryl said, "I'll bring Bram!"  Tiernen and Bram rode in Darryl's car.  The boys, my mother, and I drove in mine.

Issue #2:  The ride.  Baby O napped for most of the 90 minute ride, which was great.  W, however, did not.  He would not allow conversation that did not include him.  He talked nonstop, interjecting with, "Becca, Becca," if I didn't directly engage with him immediately.  I was happy to sing to him and with him and to talk to him, but after 90 minutes, singing The Wheels on the Bus gets old.

Issue #3:  Strollers.  When we learned the boys were coming, we bought a second stroller called a sit and stand.  Basically, it is as long as a double stroller, where the baby (in this case, Baby O) can sit in front in a normal stroller set up and a preschooler can sit or stand in the back on a sort of bench.  While this may be ideal in a mall or on the sidewalk, on uneven terrain like the hilly, rocky Ren Fest, pushing this was hell.

Issue 4:  Bram hogging.  Darryl only wanted to interact with Bram.  He only wanted Bram in his car, only wanted to push the single stroller Bram was in, only wanted to change Bram, only wanted to feed Bram, only talked to Bram.  Now, I understand that at this point, Bram had been with us for six months and he knew him best.  But he really seemed to ignore the boys.  I kept telling myself it would get better.  (spoiler:  it didn't)

Issue 5:  Changing diapers.  W was potty trained, so that was a non-issue, thank goodness.  One of us just had to take him into the tiny bathrooms or porta potties, and he would do his thing.  Because he had only been with us one day though, I felt the need to constantly ask and remind him if he had to go.  

Bram and Baby O needed to be changed.  There were no changing stations, hygienic or otherwise (and I've seen some gross ones), and so changing them involved putting down a blanket on the rocky grass and wrestling a wriggling nine month old who realized he could crawl off this blanket, bare-assed, and explore (unlike on a changing table).  That was fun.

Issue 6:  Food.  At this point, I knew what Bram would and wouldn't eat.  Though his parents were not vegetarians and fed him meat when he was home, when he was at Casa de Nix, he ate a vegetarian diet.  As for the boys... I had no idea what they would eat.  We ended up taking turns waiting on line while the other adults stayed with the kids under shady trees.   The lines were LONG.  We bought them cheese pizza and potatoes and spanakopita (all at separate vendors, I might add).  It was HOT, so we got countless $3 bottles of water.  I think they each ate about four bites.

Issue 7:  Grabby hands.  One of my favorite things about the Ren Fest is the crafters.  I love going to the various booths and checking out the gorgeous items they make.  This was impossible because of the strollers.  When we did find a vendor where we could fit, one, two, or all three boys would unceremoniously grab anything and everything in their sight, resulting in a plethora of apologies and a hasty retreat.

Issue 8:  My mother.  I figured with four adults, we would be able to handle three kids. Nope. My mother was zero help.  She had no interest in changing a diaper, feeding a baby, or anything even remotely useful.  Her excuse?  "I'm old."  (note:  she was 65 at the time).  The truth is more like, "I'm lazy."

It was a very, very, very long day, but still, we managed to eke out a few happy memories.  Darryl, per my prodding, took W for a camel ride and Tiernen took W on countless rides.  

And I learned a valuable lesson:  Ren Fests were not made for babies, especially not three of them at the same time.