Without realizing it until yesterday, when I was reading back through old posts, it's the 2-year anniversary of starting this blog! Holy cow! Obviously so much has happened in our lives since I started and I have to say the timing of the blog couldn't have been better. I found out less than a month after my first post that I was pregnant with Joey and it's pretty much been about documenting our lives since then--when I have time!
This year we went to Renn Fest on Labor Day because both Dan and I actually had off work. It was also the last weekend that Hack & Slash were going to be there and we wanted to make sure that we saw them! They weren't at Renn Fest last year and we ended up not really being super motivated to take a 4-month-old with us just for the food. Now that Joey's older and there was the option to see them, we braved the ominous forecast (it's been thunder-storming and raining all weekend) and hit up Revel Rove. It was hot and muggy, it felt like we were swimming around the festival rather than walking, but totally worth it. My plan was to buy Joey some Medieval Moccasins because a) they're cheaper than the adult shoes I've had my eye on for years but never had the extra $70-$80 for them and b) they are fantastic toddler shoes because they can be adjusted as the feet get bigger. Not to mention they can be worn with or without socks and are light and flexible, perfect for little toddler feet :) He currently wears a 5.5 in toddler so we picked out a cute pair of tan 6s and he wore them until we got in the car to leave!
Lately, he's been trying to take his shoes off a lot, I think it's because his feet get too hot with socks and shoes. He didn't once try to take these off while we were there, even while he was being carried in the backpack and didn't
need to be wearing shoes. The ladies at the shop loved that I had planned ahead and not put any shoes on Joey to begin with. As with most of the people at Renn Fest, they were super cool (and these in particular were even a little "crunchy"--they instantly recognized that Joey's necklace was amber for teething) and that stop by itself made the whole trip worth it. Of course I had another goal besides shoes for Joe and seeing Hack & Slash. Food. The last time I was at Renn Fest (
two years ago) I tried the "Queen's Baked Potato" which had nacho cheese and sour cream on it. I loved it so much that I ended up getting a second one an hour or two later (hadn't found out I was pregnant at that point lol). This year I was determined to get that and the "Mac & Cheese on a Stick" (which is fried mac & cheese on a skewer) and funnel cake if I could find some. I got everything over the course of the few hours we were there, I was in preggo heaven :)
Dan tried some Alfredo from one of the stands next to the potato place and while it was bland for us, Joey really liked it. He was also big on feeding himself with utensils. Since he's been teething so hardcore, he hasn't had the same appetite he normally does and when he feeds himself, he's more excited about eating so we'll take it! Dan ended up with Alfredo all over his pants, but Joey ate, drank, and was merry afterwards so I like to think it was worth it. Sorry Dan ;)
I was smart and instead of our normal messenger-style diaper bag, I packed a regular backpack (not to be confused with the child-carrying backpack that Joey rode in on Dan's back). With the new office job, my faithful Eddie Bauer backpack doesn't get as much use as before, so I was glad to pull it out again. It's also purple which is awesome. I lugged around extra water for us and Joey, normal diaper bag stuff (change of clothes, diapers, wipes, etc.), and my lunch cooler with multiple ice packs to keep extra milk and cheese cool for Joey. It was still cool long after we got home, I didn't have to put anything back in the fridge, Joey took care of most of it for dinner! It did finally start raining while we were watching Hack & Slash, but their show was almost over anyway. Joey was not a fan of the shows (probably because none of them contained an animated monkey named "George") so Dan and I had to take turns watching him while he ran around outside of the theaters. Thankfully Dan had him when it started to rain because when I had him, my phone and backpack were left with Dan and his parents in my seat. Dan had his phone in his pocket so after the show ended (and we were all wearing ponchos or carrying umbrellas) we set off to find Dan and Joey under the cover of one of the nearby taverns. Apparently they had wandered over there because Joey heard bagpipes playing and started dancing! After we all got back together we headed out (Dan's family stayed) because between Joey being hot and tired, and me being hot and tired, it was definitely time to go.
Joey napped both on the way to Renn Fest and on the way back which was awesome. I still had cash left for food so we grabbed some Chik-fil-a on our way home, to make the drive longer and because we were hungry. Sadly we couldn't unload the car while Joey was still sleeping, it's like he's programmed to wake up no matter how softly we attempt to close the car doors. The rest of the evening was spent in air conditioned comfort. For a while, Joey and Dan even played in the living room and gave me time to play around with my new-to-me, hand-me-down serger from his mom. I've used a serger all of one time in high school so I needed a refresher on everything! Threading the thing is a little intimidating, but not too bad because they realized it was intimidating and color-coded everything and that helped out a lot. My first few attempts on scrap fabric were miserable. First I pulled too hard on the fabric trying to turn it (circular piece) and one of the needles came loose and fell down. So after I spent tons of time cleaning and re-threading the machine, I had to almost start over. THEN once I got that fixed, I forgot to put the pressure foot back down on the fabric and started a huge tangle of thread because while the fabric was moving, the thread wasn't going into the fabric! After those issues, I finally got my act together and had a few more practice runs that were much better. I'm really looking forward to learning how to use it and what it can do :)
All in all, it was a pretty great day! Now on to a 4-day workweek thanks for the 3-day weekend :)
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