Canterbury Tales: a trip to the RenFest

Fall isn’t really fall for me unless I go to the KC RenFest, I’ve been practically every year since I was 10 or 11. This year I went with my sister and brother-in-law and the kids and we had a blast. It was great to live vicariously through Dylan and Peanut for the day.

Drums! Note the facepaint and braided hair.

Dylan wanted to take a picture in the knight stand-up but he liked his sword better than the painted one so he stuck that through the little hole too.

Peanut wanted to be the princess with the unicorn.

Mom and Dad wer the lord and the maiden. Darn harsh shadows and changing sunlight.

Trying on old armor, the heavy helmet gave him a headache.

A gauntlet that probably weighed 1/3 of her total body weight.

Turkey leg!

She "jousted" and therefore was dubbed Lady Peanut.

Mom and Dylan were just tuckered out at the end of the day.

Down, set, hike!

My nephew has started playing football. They may not have pads (it’s flag football) but that doesn’t mean it’s not a serious game. They play nearly full-length and play the full-length of the field. Dylan is a lineman, which I caught on pretty quick means he blocks people, something he’s very good at. He also wears a sweatband, which he thinks gives him super strength. I love this kid.

Gotta do things right and stretch first.

Serious headband, serious mouth guard, serious kid.

He can block like nobody's business.

He's so good at following the ball, it blows my mind.

And what did Peanut do while Bubba played? She and her fellow pink-wearing pal read princess books.

Wildcat Pride

Last week was Homecoming for De Soto so that meant lots of photo ops. From the parade to the spirit rally to the pep assembly to the football game, everything was green and white. The Wildcats lost to Eudora but they fought hard and everyone was still proud to be a Wildcat at the end of the night.

A "V" for Victory burns on the De Soto High School practice softball field at the end of the school's fifth-annual, city-wide Spirit Rally for Homecoming on Thursday, Sept. 22.

Senior DHS drum majors Philip Kaul, Owen Moore and Hannah Stevens direct the band during the second half of the Wildcats' homecoming game against Eudora on Friday, Sept. 23. Kaul and Stevens were crowned Homecoming King and Queen during half-time of the game.

 

The Wildcat offensive line faces off against the Eudora Cardinals during De Soto's homecoming game on Friday, Sept. 23. Despite a strong defense, the Wildcats lost 8-0 to Eudora.

 

DHS senior captains, from left to righ, Joey Johnson, Cole Cannon, Gabe Hamilton and Hayden CHandler join hands for the walk-out to flip the coin before the start of De Soto's homecoming game against Eudora on Friday, Sept. 23.

Getting our bean on, our first caffeine crawl

For our third anniversary last week I bought tickets for Ben and me for Kansas City’s first Caffeine Crawl. We spent Saturday touring local roasteries and coffee houses around the city and tried lots of new blends and new (to us) methods for brewing coffee. Shockingly enough we weren’t completely shaking at the end of the day.

This shop, Oddly Correct, was the most interesting stop of the day. Not only is it a roasterie and pour-over coffee shop, it's also an operating letterpress shop.

This is a blend from Oddly Correct that is sold exclusively at another KC coffee house, The Filling Station. It's a hearty blend that "sticks to your ribs," like meat and potatoes.

The Filling Station also specializes in fresh-squeezed juices that are just fabulously delicious and vibrant.

We also stopped at a tea house and Ben's inner Chinese went wild.

So many teas!

The Youngest

My youngest niece is now two. She’s definitely not so little any more. She runs and plays and screams right along with her older sister and cousin. She has fair hair and some wisps of curls. She’s going to be trouble.

The youngest.

Doggie Paddle

Before De Soto closed the pool for the season they allowed dog owners to bring their four-legged friends in for a swim. Now, I’m not a dog person by any means but every dog and owner I saw that day was having so much fun I had to smile.

This pair of sisters brings their labs to the dog swim every year. Not only is it a chance for the dogs to swim, which they love, but it allows them to socialize with other dogs and humans.

Throwing the rope knot to her boxer from the side of the pool wasn't good enough for this girl, she jumped in too.

De Soto Days Revisited

Every year De Soto has a huge, four-day festival in the city park along the Kansas River. The festival has a little bit of everything, petting zoos, a parade, a 5/10K, live music, rain, etc., etc.

This girl said the camel was making mean faces and noises at her so she was just doing it back.

Carnival!

One afternoon it suddenly started pouring down rain during a concert. This boy loved it.

What's a parade without small children dressed up and stuck on a horse?

A shaved ice stand built into a giant golf cart. It was amazing.

This girl is 13 and she won the 5K.

Running a 10K was on this woman's bucket list, it was her first race and she placed second.

There was also an old time, tent revival style church service.

 

Three going on thirteen

Peanut turns three next week, crazy I know. As with every birthday, I took some photos so my sister can have a new one for her wall. This year we went to the house of a family friend who still has a rope swing (technically it’s nylon cord) and who is known for her landscaping, which was beautiful despite the insufferable heat this summer. When I was going through the shoot Ben was looking over my shoulder and he commented that she looks three going on thirteen, thanks to her sassiness. She’s going to be a heartbreaker for sure! Here are my favorites from our little shoot.

I threw a bunch into a collage because I couldn't decide which ones to post.

Of course, she and Bubba took a picture too. Peanut was done smiling so Bubba did it for her.

 

Giggles!

 

Calder, revisited

It’s hard to believe that nearly two years and one month ago I was in Paris, wandering through Le Centre Pompidou staring at the whirling mobiles and striking sculptures and paintings of Alexander Calder. Today is Calder’s birthday so I thought it only fitting that I re-blog some of the photos I took that day (before security informed me photography wasn’t allowed, oops). This is a different set of photos than I posted to my Paris blog two years ago, I guess my taste has changed since then.

One of my favorite things about Calder's wire sculptures is how the shadows create a secondary piece of art.

He was so sneaky with his signature.

Calder created a circus entirely from wire and found materials, it was one of his first major projects. I loved the elephant.

The Ring Master was pretty awesome too.

Art en plein air

I’ve been working at The De Soto Explorer for a little more than a year now, which means it’s getting to the point where I’m covering the same events for the second time. I must say that it’s kind of a nice feeling to go to an event, say the annual Sunflower ArtFest, and be able to chat with the organizers about how much nicer the weather is this year versus last year and do I remember so-and-so, why yes, I do. Here are a few of my favorite frames from the festival this year.

For being only three, little Jordan here did a very good job sitting still to have his portrait drawn. That is, until he sneezed and found it hilarious so he kept fake sneezing.

The thing I really love about this art festival, aside from the beautiful setting & the friendly people, is the fact that they have a plein air, or outdoor/on-site, painting competition. As an artist I love the experience of creating art & this woman along with her competitors really made me want to try plein air painting myself sometime.

Bees on a sunflower, hey, it's the theme & it's Kansas, I had to.