Our Sunday

OK. I know I just posted an entry a few minutes ago, but really, this CANNOT wait. Or rather, I will not let the craziness of this upcoming week (which starts tomorrow!) prevent me from sharing this gem of a blog post.

Today we went to Norway. Or Scandinavia. Or Middle Earth? I'm not really sure where we were, and I'm not sure the people who we were there with knew either. All I know is that for the past month I have been driving past a very elaborate banner advertising the annual Viking Festival, and after a small amount of googl-ing, I quickly realized that I NEEDED to be there.

Little Mar has been under the weather, having come down with her 1st 'common cold' as a result of her insane birthday weekend last week (post coming soon), so we didn't check out the festival on Saturday. This morning, though, she had a little more pep in her step, so we loaded up and headed North (how appropriate) to meet some Vikings, or 'Pirates' as we explained to Marlowe- she wouldn't know the difference anyway.

I have to say, initially, the festival was more than a let down. Not because it didn't seem authentic, and not because it was half-assed (which it wasn't), but because it was a HUGE rip off. We spent 14 dollars just to walk through the gates, which was beyond insane. Once inside, it didn't get much better. There was TONS of ridiculous crap for sale and all of it was beyond a scam-$150 for a wooden cup? $20 for a 2 inch 'fairy house'? What does that even mean?-luckily Elgin and I are not suckers, nor are we in the market for cups or mythical real estate, and Marlowe is not yet/will hopefully never reach the obnoxious begging-for-everything stage. But despite feeling a little robbed, we sucked it up and decided to try and get our 14 bucks worth. We ventured up the 'Northern Path' Where we encountered a lovely couple who were sampling out their DELICIOUS Viking Soda Bread with honey butter...

MJ and her 'honey bear bread'

Further up the 'Northern Path' was the Viking campground

Normally El is the beard-iest man in town, but alas, not today- there's just no competition when you bring 'braided beards' into the picture. so. many. braided. beards.

These Viking chairs are smart, awesome, and seem to be pretty portable.

We tried them out, though Marlowe almost fell.

When Marlowe ran from the Viking Chair to the Toad 'Stools,' I realized we had left Norway and arrived at Middle Earth.

A round, armored, Viking warrior barreled himself down the path while we were sitting on the Toad 'Stools.' Marlowe and I were hot on his trail (he's up there in the distance).

The warrior led us to a booth where a man was *literally* peddling animal pelts-and people were buying them! I was tempted to buy this little number. Not really, but the lady standing next to me was seriously considering it. When the Viking salesman spotted Mar and started giving Elgin advice about her dating years, we bounced. "Plant a cactus under her window now, so it can grow by the time she's a teenager!"

I didn't know cacti flourished up in Scandinavia...

Our 14 bucks were totally justified when we stumbled upon this guy.

And then, a few seconds later, this happened...

Our court-side seats did not disappoint.

The look says it all.

The winner was a lady-Viking, very forward-thinking, these Vikings.

Just some Viking warriors posing for photos and a trio of orange 70s era break room chairs.

Marlowe spotted this bounce-house through the masses. Where on Earth can you find a Viking-themed bounce house, and why was this not one of our options for last week's party?

I don't mean to poke fun at the Viking people, and I hope I haven't insulted anyone in this post. The point is, we felt ripped off in the beginning, but the experience turned out to be (kind of) worth it in the end. We will probably not visit the Vikings again next year, but they will be back if you are interested in seeing this for yourself!

Now do you see why I couldn't wait to post this?