We pulled it off!

I am quite pleased to say that Caleb was completely surprised at our destination Saturday night. I'll admit that we took advantage of the nearly 3 hour drive to Schaumburg to continue tormenting him. He's a good sport, though, and took it in stride. It was just so fun; he was completely clueless!

When you are taking the exit for the Medieval Times Castle in Schaumburg, it is pretty hard to miss. The side of the castle itself faces the interstate. Once Caleb saw it, he didn't take very long to figure it out. His reaction...

"Whoa! Cool!"

The show didn't start until 5:30, but when I ordered the tickets, it recommended getting there an hour early. We actually showed up a little after 4, and the parking lot was already very full! Greg took a picture of me, Nic, and Caleb at the entrance.

Then a lady asked if we wanted a picture of all of us, so we let her take one, too. Here is our complete party.

Once inside, there were tapestries and such on the walls, sconces with flickering 'candles,' etc. Caleb was pretty impressed with the atmosphere. (Except the lightbulb 'candles.') Here is a sample of the wall decorations (and Caleb).

After we checked in, we were given a crown to wear and a table number to sit at. Our crowns were all red and yellow, indicating which knight we would be cheering on that evening. In the 'Great Hall,' there were quite a few souviener shops, a couple of bars, and then one wing that was more museum-ish. One wall held all of the weapons that would be used in the joust/fight. Pretty wicked looking things, especially the bola and mace! I think what impressed me the most was the lance. I mean, I know they are really long, but they had one up on the wall. I can't remember now exactly how tall/long it was...10 or 11 feet, maybe? I think they said it weighed 13 pounds. Regardless, it was pretty impressive to think of how much skill and strength you'd have to have to wield one. I made Caleb stand next to it for scale. Unfortunately, I don't know his exact height, but I think he's probably 5' 5'' or something like that. (A touch taller than me, anyway). The bottom of the lance (not the handle) is just barely visible.

There were several places for photo ops, including a set of royal chairs. Here is King Caleb, pondering the state of his realm...

They also had several of their horses (Andalusian stallions) that you could see up close, and a display in the 'dungeon' of medieval instruments of torture (You could tour it for $2. We did. It was, well, disturbing to say the least. And more than a little big creepy. But, we definitely had the time to burn, so I'm still glad we did it.)

In the center of the Great Hall was the area where knighting ceremonies were performed. We didn't buy Caleb that package, but I think he was okay with it. :) The area is on the left of this picture. Greg actually took this one to show the paintings on the ceiling. Each shield on the left represents one of the knights who would be in the tournament. I think the only one that got cut off was the black and white knight's.

Lots of people, and it only got more packed!

Finally, after the Hall was so packed you nearly couldn't move, they opened the doors and started calling groups to go find their seats in the arena. (Green, Black and White, Red and Yellow, etc.) I wish I had a picture of the arena; it wasn't how I'd pictured. There were long rows of tables and theater chairs (the kind that flip up) with an aisle behind each row of chairs. First we found our colored section, and then our table. Each long table was numbered. We were about the fourth row up out of six rows, I think, from the floor of the arena itself. Great seats! Here's Caleb posing with his dagger we bought him as a souviener.

Our places were already set with a plate, bowl, and mug. Note the lack of silverware! Everything was eaten by hand. In the case of the soup, we just drank it out of the bowl. Pretty fun. :)

The food was surprisingly good, when you think of how mass-produced it had to be. We started out with tomato bisque, which I thought was super! Caleb wasn't so keen on it, so I finished his. At this point they also served garlic bread. Soon after we got the soup, the show started. Then, as it went on, our waitress would come along and keep bringing us food and drink. Each waiter/waitress (or 'serf' and 'wench' as they called themselves) had one long section of tables, so they could simply go down the row and serve. Pretty nifty, and pretty impressive when you think of how fast they served that amount of people! Anyway, we each got a roasted chicken (kind of like a cornish hen, size-wise), then a spare rib and roasted potato if we wanted one. We got two rounds of Pepsi, one before the meal and one after. The lady sitting next to me had requested a vegetarian plate, and I have to say that it smelled really good, too! Dessert was 'pastry of the castle' which reminded me of a McDonald's apple pie, but I thought this was better. :)

Greg and I tried a self-timer picture before we ate...

Anyway, the food was very good, and the show definitely was, too! There was a bit of a story line to it, but the main focus was the knights competing in the tournament. At first they just went through challenges like trying to catch a ring on their lance as they galloped by, trying to throw a spear into a target as they galloped underneath it, etc. There were also several performances of riders and stallions. It was impressive to see the horses stepping in time to the music, trotting in place, etc. Not any less impressive was the falconer. He released the bird and it flew around the arena several times, over all the spectators. As it zoomed by us the first time, I felt it knock my crown! Rather intimidating to see the bird speeding towards you. Near the end of the show was the actual jousting and swordplay. I wish I could have taken some video, but the arena was dark, lit up by spotlights and such, so I'm sure it wouldn't have turned out very good. I think the swordfighting (I call it that, but they actually used things like maces, bolas, and axes. Very impressive! The only down part of the evening is when Caleb couldn't find his hat, which he had brought but not worn (due to the crowns we were given). Our conclusion is that someone picked it up and didn't turn it in. :( As we walked out to the car, though, Caleb's spirits weren't too dampened...it was pretty obvious that he had had a great time! If you're interested at all for more information, their website is www.medievaltimes.com.
As we attempted to leave the parking lot along with everyone else, we tried to get a few shots of the side of the castle. We had plenty of time, as the place was jammed.

All in all, we all enjoyed it and it was a successful birthday surprise. Caleb kept talking about going back...I think as soon as he's saved enough money to buy a ticket, he'll be looking for a ride...any takers? ;)

After Greg and I got home, we were still in the medieval mood, I think...Sunday morning we decided to get a picture of 'King Max' on his throne. :)

He was quite cooperative!

It was nice to see him so happy on Sunday morning; Mom Rassi, who kept him while we were at Medieval Times, said she thought he had a fever Sat. night.

We ended up staying home Sunday morning and listening to the service over the Internet, just to make sure Max was acting more normal. We went to church in the afternoon, then, and he seemed okay. We knew he'd been getting a cold (stuffy/runny nose, cough), but hoped that it wouldn't get worse. He took a good nap yesterday after church but was kind of whiny at the restaurant that evening. (We went to Qdoba...very good Mexican food!) We went to Dad and Mom Rassi's after supper (they went out to eat with us, along with Nic, Caleb, and Mike and Carmen & kids). We hung out for a while, played a game of Settlers of Catan which Nic won, and then took tired Max home. He went to sleep okay, but woke up in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep; he was wheezing a bit, so I gave him a nebulizer which seemed to do the trick. Poor guy. He's pretty much doomed to be asthmatic.

Anyway, one more Max antic and then I'll be done. I know I tend to be long-winded somtimes. :S This one is too funny not to share.

We know that if left to his own devices in the bathroom, this is what inevitably happens to Max if the toilet lid is left up:

However, it wasn't until recently that I witnessed this:

He can raise the lid himself! Usually it doesn't fall back on him, though. :) Don't worry, he wasn't hurt at all by this; we just thought it was pretty funny. And yes, I've taken to just closing the bathroom door for now until Max stops playing in the toilet. :D

Happy Monday, everyone!