With some tule, pins and feathers, I was able to dress up my plain Elizabethan riding hat to something spectacular!

Added some Ren Faire dust as well.  :)

Ren Faire ~ WE WERE THERE!

First time back in TEN YEARS (since my accident).  The wee ones kept saying how much fun they were having all day and told us they had such a great time when we were on our way home!  That is so wonderful for a parent to hear!

Musketeer gave a lot of alerts.  My levels kept crashing due to the fact that I was so active, didn't eat much while there and I wasn't stressed, just HAPPY!

Kiva said that I was SMILING every time he looked at me.  He hadn't seen me have such a completely HAPPY DAY in a very VERY long time!

The Ren Faire staff were AMAZING!  I had people come up to me, NOT asking, "Are you okay?" like most, but they asked me how I was enjoying the day, then stayed to listen to how I was really doing.  Shop owners asked if my dog needed water.  One fellow was very concerned about me, suggested I sit right there in the shade, asked if my dog had been drinking enough water.  I told him my pup has drank a lot more water than I have.  He motioned for a gal to get us all water, he put a bowl down for Musketeer and I was handed a glass of COLD water.  When Musketeer saw me drinking, he lapped up some water and his tail was WAGGING and then he started licking the man's hand, as if to say "thank you for helping my lady".  I asked him if that was alright and he said absolutely, so I told Musketeer "Okay.  Yes." and Musketeer went totally nuts, licking his thanks and wagging his tail and tipping over for tummy rubs!  It seemed to us that Musketeer was doing his puppy best to show all of his appreciation.  One shop owner told me it was so nice to have an ACTUAL service dog in her shoppe, saying that so many are just not well behaved at all and mine was perfect.  That made me feel so good as well!

During the Royalty Parade, the queen was waving at the other side of the road all the time.  I called out, "YOUR MAJESTY!" and she looked at me and waved, then saw Musketeer, awwed and blew him a kiss!  (Musketeer's first time watching a parade, and yes, he WATCHED folks go past!  He did SO WELL!)

I was looking for head wear to go with my gown and found this amazing black leather lady's riding hat (popular by the royals in the Elizabethan Era).  It's just a plain sort of top hat-ish, but it looks good on me and when I put it on, Kiva said, "Greatest Show?".  So I burst out in song right there in the shop, "THIS IS THE GREATEST SHOW!".  Everyone was like, "YEAH!".  :)  The hat came home with me.  I'm going to dress it with some lace ribbon to match my gown.

It was a VERY wonderful day, filled with HAPPY!  We all came home TIRED but very HAPPY.  I DID IT!  I "walked" around most of the faire!  Yes, I had to stop a LOT and my back hates me, but I've been dreaming about going back to Ren Faire for ten years and I DID IT!

Thank you for reading/viewing!

HIP HIP HUZZAY!