Renaissance Babies

Today, we took Connor to the Charlotte Renaissance Festival. It's 20 acres of shops, food and characters with 6 stages offering constant entertainment. It's only the second Ren Fest I've ever been to. The first was in Laguna many years ago and we didn't stay there long, so I really can't say how they compare against one another.

Along for the ride were our friends Mary and Eric and their daughter Lila who was born 3 months ago. My sister's family was also there. The original idea was for us to all meet up and hang out together, but Francine got there before us (we were late) and between juggling babies, lunch and too much noise to hear your cellphone most of the time, we only bumped into Francine, Rob and Sam a few times.

Everyone had a lot of fun. We started the day by feasting on turkey legs and "Steak on a stake" for lunch. Eric and I shot crossbows and tried our hand at the thing where you use a huge mallet to try to knock a slider up a rail to ring the bell... whatever that's called... the only sign on the thing was "Play at your own risk". Misha and Mary took Connor though a maze and found a "gold" coin which was really plastic and a gimmick to get kids to run through the maze since you got to keep all the coins you could find. Connor wasn't too thrilled with the slide you had to go down to reach the exit though. Then, there was the Fudge vendor (yum) and the mead from ye olde pub (yum) and we wrapped the day with the Petting Zoo (stinky and oddly overrun with spiders). We all returned to the car tired and ready to go home.

I think I still smell a bit like dirt and Turkey Leg.

Some pics from the day:

Connor and Lila arriving at the Festival


Eric and Lila. She got lots of compliments about the cute hat.


Misha and Connor. I was taking this sideways and couldn't see the LCD so the composition's off, but I still like the shot.


Connor and Sam ... um... hanging out... (sorry, had to)


The petting zoo was a hit until we got swarmed through the fence by sheep.


"Oyez! Oyez! King Connor and Queen Lila decree that the day is over!"

Pinball Pictures

A lot of our friends have been asking for pictures of our Addams Family pinball machine. So without further ado...


The game arrived wrapped in the shipping industry's version of saran wrap. A previous job taught me it's also useful for securing coworkers to chairs.


Misha wasted no time opening up her new treasure. Well, actually we waited 3 days. Until we had a night that Connor went down early and there was nothing else to do around the house.


A standalone shot of the game. Yes, we have a low ceiling in the basement.


A portrait of the machine and its owner. Misha had me retake this so it would say "The Addams Family" in the display. We've since found out you can also create a custom message, so the machine now also says "Gomberg Family Pinball". Cute, huh?

Addams Family Pinball Values

For as long as I've known her, my wife has always wanted 2 things:

1) a 1966 Ford Mustang
2) an Addams Family pinball machine

She came close to #1 in College when she bought herself a 1967 Mustang (sold off long before we met).

Now, tonight, she can mark #2 off her list.

Much the same way that I troll ebay for Disney Haunted Mansion stuff, she's been known to look for the Addams Family pinball machine. But it's always been more than she's willing to spend and besides... where would we put a pinball machine?

But wait, our new house has a basement that we plan to turn into a game/media room!
... and her mid-year bonus is just sitting in savings earning interest!
... and her worthless husband still owes her a Mother's Day gift!
... and her birthday's coming up!

So now that there's room and we're wanting to be good "economy stimulating" citizens and I'm a dottering moron when it comes to buying gifts (hey, acknowledging it is the first step, right?), there's nothing standing in the way.

And wouldn't you know it, a very nice specimen comes up on ebay and the price is reasonable (compared to some of the others we've seen out there) and with a little cajoling from me, she bought it.

Wow... I don't think I've seen her this happy since our wedding day.

Maybe happier.

Hey...

;-)