Medieval Times

Owen and William have been at camp in the mornings this week, but not your usually woodsy camp. Nope, they've been to Arts Camp! And let me tell you, they yuv it! When I pick them up at lunchtime they happily sing new songs, dance new funky dances and tell me wonderful stories of the things they pretended to be that day. Its been really great to see them having fun at something different.

And speaking of different...I got an email last week reminding me of the camp and also informing me that on Wednesday, it would be Medieval Times Day and I needed to send my campers dressed appropriately for the theme. "Oh crap," I thought, 'What am I going to do? Send them in rags with dirt on their faces and say they're serfs?"

Well I thought about it over the weekend, but was too busy to do anything creative. Finally at 3am on Monday morning, as I sat up feeding Elliot, I had a brainwave. I would papier mache some knights helmets and borrow some leggings from Amber and Abigail and improvise the rest.

So that knight, sorry, I mean night, I blew up a couple of balloons, sizing them inside the boys' baseball caps for the right fit, tore up some newspapers, made my flour and water glue and got down to business. And you know, it was really fun. As I smooshed and splotched the evening away, I had visions of myself becoming a papier mache artist, creating bowls and ashtrays and pinatas the likes of which you have never seen. But then I got some in my hair and the love affair was over.

Here are the helmets in their raw state, waiting to dry somewhere away from little hands.

And the next evening, balloons popped, waiting to be painted.

And the final product, complete with personalized knight's crests and shields (that daddy made from diaper boxes, might I add).

A dragon rampant for Owen...

And a Red Castle for Will, with Princess Elly waiting to be rescued in her tower on the counter.

Very, very satisfying to see the outfits on and to see how happy they made the boys. They were a huge hit at camp too!