When Friends Become Family

As a family, we've been part of the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) for over ten years now.  We were invited one event to come out and camp for the weekend and we loved it.  Quite honestly, what's not to love?  Dressing up in historical(ish) clothes, getting to do arts and crafts, and camping plus shopping for things that have no place in the ordinary world but are still super cool like daggers, swords, armor, and all things dragons, fairies and fantasy.

But it's the people that have kept us going back year after year, event after event.  We camp with an amazing group of people every year.  We started out as a bunch of single people out having drunken revelries, then we got married, started bringing LW and GG (who the whole clan adored and immediately adopted), then more little kids (our Tweedles included) started popping up and we've moved from the party encampments to the quieter ones with quiet hours.  The experience when we go has changed over the years, but we keep going back because we love the people.  And after 10+ years, they've become family.

Last weekend we had the anniversary event of our clan - the Scottish kind, not the KKK kind.  Just a weekend to spend with people we only get to see a few times a year, to catch up, and be amazed at how the kids have grown.  Be excited for good news, commiserate with bad news and do what families do best.. EAT.  We had an amazing feast with turkey and all the trimmings, drinks, laughter, good fun and friends.  The best kind of weekend.

The best kind of weekend that was made just a tiny bit better by a hysterical and completely inappropriate game GG found.  It's called Cards Against Humanity and again I can't emphasize enough how inappropriate this game is.  It's a simple game, similar to Apples to Apples, where a black card is read and everyone has 10 pre-written white card to choose from to give the funniest answer.  The funniest answer wins the black card and at the end of the night, the one with the most black cards wins.

For example: the black card may read: What is my anti-drug?  The white cards could read: Santa Claus or Passive Aggressive Post-It Notes.  This is an adult game as some of the answers are much more raunchy than than my examples (this is a family blog after all).  So we waited until all the kids were put to bed to play and the game went on until the wee hours of the morning with so much laughter, our stomachs were sore. They were out of stock of the game last weekend, so we simply downloaded the pdf and had the cards printed at staples for under $10.  Doesn't get any better than that!

I didn't take any photos from our event. I brought my camera, but was having so much fun, I forgot to use it.  Maybe next time.  Meanwhile, we went all of last year without doing a single SCA event and this year, I think this year we're ready to get back in the game and do events again.  So, expect more pictures to come!

Seriously.. Thoughts?

God Made Dirt, And Dirt Don't Hurt!

One the best things about camping for little kids, is one of the worst things about camping for who ever does the laundry.  At our event last weekend, dirt was the name of the game.  And the kids really knew how to play!

Do you remember these two squirts? 

 
They were back this weekend and are officially the winners of the Dirtiest awards.

I don't know what the prize is.  Maybe a big bucket of Oxy-Clean for their mom?


Seriously.. Thoughts?

Pasatrero Archery

At the event we held this weekend, that we're affectionately calling "Pasatrero", we had everyone who had a bow and some arrows bring it along so everyone could give it a go.  We had a great turnout, and raised more than a few eyebrows at the archery range when we all showed up in garb.  Making people look twice is half the fun!

A good time was had by all - although, we all agreed we needed more gear.  Maybe next year everyone will have their own (hint hint nudge nudge).

Seriously.. Thoughts?

There's No Place Like Home!

Last night, Glamour Girl made her way home from visiting her mom in Alabama for 7 weeks. As you may know, we are having our own little unsanctioned SCA event with some of our very best friends and family.  In a moment of fancy, a lot of them decided to join us in picking up GG from the airport.  In Garb.  If you don't understand, I think pictures in this case, really are worth a thousand words!

This is how we showed up.  Everyone else was very confused.

Standing around waiting.  We were a little early.

LW watching for her sister.

And then, GG saw us!

Classic!  She never saw us coming!

Bug got his hug in first!

And then Bunny.

We all got some love!  We're all glad she's home and gets to participate in the last part of our weekend.  She also loves the new deck, and now that she's home, I can take a few photos to share with the rest of you.  But I think I'll wait until my tent city departs!

Seriously..  Thoughts?

Labor Day Plans

Normally, over Labor Day, we do a huge camping/SCA trip.  We're talking several thousands of people all in one location.  But the powers that be, canceled the Labor Day event indefinitely due to lack of turnout and fire restrictions. 

So, this year we decided to host our own camping event for just our friends/family.  This is what my backyard looked like when I got up this morning. 

It doesn't get any better than this!

Seriously... Thoughts?