Labor Day

We had a modge-podge of events for Labor Day this year. Some of our plans suddenly changed, so we went with it and had a great long weekend as a family.
We went to Kumari-con, an anime/sci-fi/geek convention for teenagers who have nothing better to do with their time. It takes place every year and we just happened upon it a few years ago. Now we go to see the outlandish costumes and awkward teenager-ness. Baelor did not want to get down from daddy's shoulders as his eyes were scanning the strangeness with mouth gaping open. He just didn't know what to make of it.

Ezio from Assassin's Creed stalking his next victim (Paul!)

Here are some of our favorite costumes:

Peter pan and his shadow and a Moogle from the Final Fantasy video game series (Paul's favorite game growing up)

I had just been whining that we didn't get to go to the beach this summer as we usually do. Well, plans changed and we managed to get a day in at the beach! The weather couldn't have been better! We went to Pacific City and just let the sand and water determine our fun.

 

Uncle Teem brought his boogie board so we had a blast taking turns riding down the sand dune. The hill is so huge that we only used a portion of it to go up and down...very tiring! Luukas won for the longest run with a massive tumble at the end. After seeing his fall, I let him keep his win.

We made it, sweatily and all, to the top of the sand dune

Reina, of course, couldn't get enough of her cousin Miia.

Baelor was inventive when he decided it was easier to bring the water to the sand castle via boogie board.

First, Baelor ponders what to do (he ponders with his tongue sticking out). Then he yells at the waves and laughs when they crash.

Our bellies were full after Uncle Teem cooked the crab claws they caught the previous day. Yum!

The last day of the weekend we went to our first ever Renaissance Festival. Paul has always wanted to go to one. We originally were planning on dressing up in Medieval clothing, but Paul wasn't sure what the normal attire is to one of these events. I totally would have but seeing that the weather was nearly 90 degrees I gave in and went comfy. Reina was the only one who arrived in costume.

 Reina was impressed with the random fairies that gave her magical tokens, but she was not very impressed with the "realistic" mermaids who were obviously not real. There was no fooling her.

Sadly, most everything cost extra money on top of the entrance fee to do anything. Reina really wanted to do the one ride there- a man-powered swing. The smile was worth the $3.

The jousting event was hot. I don't think that the terrible English accents helped, or the staged "winner" of the joust. I think the most enjoyable part were the snacks I packed while watching. Wah-wah. (low trumpet sound)

Rather than buying over-priced snacks there, we drove through the McDonald's drive thru and got some sundaes and sodas to cool down. I have this need to feel accomplished so I got home and canned a box of pears someone at church gave me.

Okay, so the Renaissance Festival was not what we envisioned, but there were some cool shops to look at and random entertainment. Let's just say it was not like jumping into a Medieval-themed movie set. Really a great weekend we enjoyed together before Reina's first day of school!