Mikey and I went to Gainesville for the Hoggetowne faire and met up with the MegBrenKatieBen conglomerate.

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bigfry.jpg: When we got to Gainesville we went to Farah's, one of our old favorites. I had a wrap and it came with fries. One of my fries was huge! The server told me that the guys in the kitchen were all excited over the big fry too.

pops1.jpg: We got a hotel room and did some posing in it.

pops2.jpg: I requested the popeyes pictures. They are to be a tradition.

perkinscoffee1.jpg: The next morning we stopped for coffee and breakfast at Perkins. Coffee is very important while having breakfast before the faire.

perkinscoffee2.jpg: Coffee and an eyebrow. That'd wake anyone up.

perkinscoffee3.jpg: I needed some too. It was warm that day, so inside the restaurant was the only place I had to wear my cloak.

hoggoutfit.jpg: Soooo . . . here's what I wore to the faire.

hoggoutfit2.jpg: Mikey wanted me to stand by the chicken.

hoggoutfit3.jpg: A better close-up. Man that hat makes my ears stick out funny.

hoggoutfits.jpg: Mikey and I both dressed up.

hoggoutfits2.jpg: He looks like Aragorn's stunt double. I look like a dork.

mikeyoutfit.jpg: I like his little pouch.

horsies.jpg: Just as we came in, we saw these lovely ladies with lovely horses.

ladieshorsies.jpg: Aren't they so picturesque?

ladyhorsey.jpg: I wonder how long they just stood around by the entrance?

kingandqueen.jpg: Here're the royals of Hoggetowne.

ratty1.jpg: Nearly as soon as we got there, we watched the Rat Man show.

ratty2.jpg: He's just as silly as ever!

ratty3.jpg: He shakes Wilbur the Dancing Weasel until people get uncomfortable.

renfam1.jpg: After the Rat Man, we met up with this lovely group of friends and walked around together.

renfam2.jpg: Another shot of the same. This is Katelyn, Meghan, Brendon, and Ben.

katieparasol.jpg: Then we went shopping. Katelyn liked this parasol.

elfears.jpg: They sell "Elf Ears" at the Renaissance Faire because as everyone knows lots of people had pointed ears back then. (Shut up and let me have my illusion.) For the record, I came in the gate with my points already on.

headdy.jpg: You can put your face in this scene. If you want, you can put someone else in the place where the cut-off head is.

treeguy.jpg: This dude was dressed up like a tree! He reminded me of an Ent. (Maybe that's what he was supposed to be.) Mikey commented, "I wonder what he does when he has to take a piss??"

barely.jpg: This is a balancing artist advertising the act "Barely Balanced." He is on stilts and very tall!

bigmug.jpg: Look at the SIZE of this mug!

bennystroller.jpg: He looked so mellow just chillin' in the stroller!

mren03081.jpg

mren03082.jpg: He has a lovely bottle my mom got him for a holiday gift.

seahorse1.jpg: This is what I was wearing. I was standing on a stage.

seahorse2.jpg: Another shot of the same.

mstrongman1.jpg: One of the first things we tried was the test of strength. Mikey tried to beat the crap out of the thing.

mstrongman2.jpg: This time he didn't win, though he's done it in previous years.

stronglady1.jpg: I tried too!

stronglady2.jpg: But even though I was doing the smaller one, I couldn't even get close.

stronglady3.jpg: But nobody can say I didn't try. . . .

stronglady4.jpg: What a beast.

flowerhair.jpg: Here is how I had my hair done in the back. I thought it came out cute.

gypsiesdance1.jpg: We saw the Demzarah Gypsies like we always do, and as always they were great. . . .

gypsiesdance2.jpg: They had changed one aspect of their act (one of them used to do a fire dance and had changed it to a scarf dance), but otherwise it was pretty much the same as last year.

demzarah4.jpg: These gals get really into it sometimes!

demzarah5.jpg: Sometimes all three dance together and play their finger chime things.

demzarah9.jpg: Ooh, the sword dance.

chessbrawl1.jpg: We also watched the human chess game, where they all just lost control and started beating each other up at the end.

huladress1.jpg: Did they have hula hoops in Renaissance times?

huladress2.jpg: Probably not, but I can still do one while wearing a corset!

pickle.jpg: Mikey and I ran into Mike with his family at the faire, and this is his mom with a pickle.

takehand.jpg: Mike's parents being silly.

cheesetater.jpg: I got a cheesy tater myself. I did not like how much cheese was on it. Bleh.

wetater.jpg: There's Mike and me sharing a moment!

shroomhunt2.jpg: For some reason I thought it was really funny that Mike's mom was looking for a mushroom to buy in this field. It looked like she was hunting in some enchanted forest. How cool.

shirtshop1.jpg: Just a random shot of me in a shirt shop.

shirtshop2.jpg: I look rather pleased with myself, though I've no idea why.

wellwenches1.jpg: Here are Winnie and Izzi, the Washing Well Wenches.

movingknight.jpg: OMG! He looks like a statue, but there's a guy in there! He occasionally scares people by moving unexpectedly.

lordandlady1.jpg: I thought it was a good idea to have a me-and-Mikey picture that showed off both our outfits, so I made sure we got one.

lordandlady2.jpg: I usually like to get two shots of things in case one doesn't turn out good. But this time both were so nice I couldn't choose. :)

ren0308cloak.jpg: Here I am with my cloak on. I really didn't need it often because it was quite nice outside.

gypsymegkb.jpg

princesshair.jpg: Katelyn's grandma bought her this beautiful hairpiece. The shopkeeper did her hair so it looked all elegant. Katelyn demanded I take a picture so she could take it off because her hairstyle was bugging her. Heh.

ratwait.jpg: We chilled and waited around for the Rat Show. Always a favorite.

benprincess.jpg: Waiting is never boring when you have a baby to play with. Here Katie is putting her princess hat on her brother.

superbrightben.jpg: I got to hold the little bugger. I don't know why this came out so bright, but it looks kinda cool!

smirkben.jpg: So I got another picture, and this time I'm making a smirky face.

katiepucking.jpg: Katelyn got chosen as a helper for the Rat Man, so she got to go on stage and open her mouth to pretend like she was gonna catch a fake rat while Emrys Fleet used his "pucking stick" on it.

bensalldone2.jpg: Ben got lunch while we waited for the Demzarah Gypsies. He's all done here!

megsdress1.jpg: A shopkeeper talked Meggie into trying on this gorgeous dress. I couldn't believe how pretty she looked in it! I acted like a total girl and demanded to take pictures. Hehe.

brenren.jpg: Brendon tried on some period clothes too. Exciting!

groupfaire.jpg: Some kind souls offered to take our picture when they saw us trying to set a camera to get us all, so here we are. Unfortunately I am in the shadow and everyone else is squinting in the sun. Oh well.