Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

We have so much fun going to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire. 

We go on Student's Day--not only is the price great, but they have many educational talks, as well as, the various performances. 

I really enjoy the talks on armory and jousting. 

We learned about the type of horse that was used in war and how each part of the armor worked. We also learned that what was allowed in a fighting situation might be considered unacceptable in a joust.

I did not realize how many rules were involved in jousting.

At the end of his talk, he took questions from the group. I asked about the vision with the helmet on.

He asked for a volunteer to try on the helmet. I was very surprised when Angel raised her hand.

I was even more surprised when she did not freak out when he attached the helmet on.

Here he is showing the extremely limited field of vision when you are wearing a helmet. 

Then . . . I wish I had a picture of this but it happened so fast.

He asked "With such a limited field of vision, why would you wear a helmet?" Before any one could answer, he pulled a broadsword out of the ground and hit the top of the helmet. I think you could hear the "thunk" out in the parking lot. I kind of stared . . . not really believing he had done what I saw him do. I thought the knight that was with him for the demonstration was going to die. He had to walk away, he could not believe that my daughter was just whacked on the head with a broadsword. He looked at me and my husband and we started to chuckle (after all, I have no problem with a hands-on approach to learning something) and then he started to chuckle. The helmet was removed and he asked her if she was hurt . . . she said no. And then she got to sit down. No one asked any questions after that . . . wonder why? 

I wonder if he knew we were homeschoolers? I think I would worry about the school getting upset if that was attempted on a public school kid.

I will tell you something now--my daughter doesn't argue about wearing bike/scooter/skateboard helmets. I just remind her of the knight at Hoggestowne Medieval Faire.

Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine

I really enjoyed our visit to the Castillo de San Marcos. I think it was because I had prepared in advance for the trip.

Before we went to the Castillo de San Marcos, I downloaded the Junior Ranger Program Booklet from the National Park Service (NPS) website. It has information about the fort and the NPS. I incorporated it in our history lessons. A couple of days before we went, we completed the sections that could be done at home. The rest we finished during our visit to the Castillo de San Marcos. (You can get the booklets on site but it is a lot of work to do while there. They do give the option of mailing it in to receive your badges.)



The booklet directed us to places that we probably would not have gone.

For their Jr. Ranger Badge, the girls had to ask a park ranger and a park volunteer a question, it opened up a dialogue that gave us more information than we could have gotten from reading all the signs.


Curly is holding the device that lights the flint on the cannon.


Hubby enjoys sharing with Curly.


Curly enjoys listening to her father.


Angel does her Vanna White impersonation while showing us the cannon.

Now to my favorite part of the entire Castillo de San Marcos visit . . .

. . . the cannon demonstration.
Sorry for shaky video, holding onto daughters hand while taping.

When the girls showed a ranger their books, they both received a Jr. Ranger Badge and a very nice certificate. Because they wrote a letter about their visit to the fort (an activity in the booklet), they also received a Jr. Ranger Patch.

I will tell you I was impressed. I thought they would get a cheesy sticker and maybe a photocopied certificate.


A tired group leaves the Castillo de San Marcos.

Side Note:
My husband was curious about a show that he had seen about the Castillo de San Marcos. The show was Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. According to a park ranger, they totally manipulated the footage they took. They edited answers from one question and put with another question. They misrepresented the facts--only two people died at the Castillo and both are buried in cemeteries on the other side of town. The "bodies' (as they are referred to in the show) that were found were in the area where they threw away trash and was, as gross as it is, amputated body parts. Think about it, that is how they treated a musket wound, amputate and throw away. Drafts that they felt, were from air shafts not some "ghostly" presence and their most dramatic video--someone walking with a lantern could easily be explained as lights from a boat in the water. Totally sensationalize their visit at the Castillo.

Schooner Freedom, St. Augustine

This was the first field trip of the year with the Arlington Explorers home schooling group.

First off, let me say that I am not overly fond of water--in fact, being on any boat scares the dickens out of me. So why did I plan, of all things, a boat excursion for our homeschooling group. Honestly, at the time, I don't know. But as it got closer to the day of the field trip, I got more and more excited. We were going to be on the type of boat that was used during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. How cool would that be? Still I was a little apprehensive--but we were going to have fun.

Before we even got on the boat, we got to see dolphins in the water. OK, the day was starting off good.



As I met the crew, I was starting to feel even better. The crew was fantastic--they mingled with the kids and let them help with some of the tasks of sailing a schooner.





My family had an experience that they would never forget.


By the way, that gorgeous woman is my mom!

Curly and Angel got to hoist the jib sail. Curly said that it was real hard to pull. Oh, we also learned a way to remember the sails: JIB STAYS beFORE the MAIN. I think I got that right--I will have to ask Curly in the morning.



Curly asked Captain John about the knots on the boat. He said that he tied most of them.



He then called her to him to show her how to tie a hitch . . .



. . . and splice two pieces of rope together.


The Captain and Crew are wearing Naval Uniforms (I don't remember the year).



He gave Curly the task of splicing two pieces of rope together



SUCCESS!



Even my husband enjoyed talking to Captain John.

THANK YOU CAPT. JOHN, SARAH AND THE REST OF SCHOONER FREEDOM CREW FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!

If you would be interested in experiencing the Schooner Freedom yourself, you can contact them at (904) 810-1010 or at schoonerfreedom@aol.com or check out their website.

Have some wonderful things I want to blog about . . .

but they really wouldn't have much impact without the pictures. Finally, I was able to buy a cable off ebay. This is the first time I have bought something like this from ebay so I pray it goes ok.

As soon as I get my cable, I will show you my youngest without her teeth. It is too cute. Also, the girls catching a rainbow, Jaguar game fun, Curly's Lego creations, our field trip to the Fort Walton Armament Museum, our wonderful trip to Saint Augustine and the absolutely fantastic time we had on the Schooner Freedom and the Castillo de San Marcos and, of course, pictures of the modified workbox system I am using for homeschooling this year.

Hope to be blogging with pictures within 7 to 11 business days. :-)