gatecon- day 2

after dr. elizabeth weir had spend the night face-first in the rice krispies treat, jon had to clean her off somehow.  so, he did it the most logical way possible...

the main attraction: michael shanks!  one of the main four from stargate sg-1!  i've seen him a couple times before, but its always a great time to listen to him tell stories.

clearly jon is having a blast... right?

stopping back at the car to drop off our merch, jon takes a minute to catch a picture of yours truly.  can you blame him?

'don't worry jon', i told him, 'just look as natural as possible...'  nailed it.

gatecon after party

the nice hotel room we got.  the hotel itself was pretty crappy, but the rooms were sure nice!  we stayed up and had a blast hanging out for the rest of the night.  between the rowdy people in the parking lot to the crazy animation on tv, we had a fantastic time!

before we went to medieval times we had a little time to kill.  having never been to one, jon and i stopped in the huge ikea store.  that didn't last long, after about twenty minutes we were both like 'yup, its a store.' and then we moved on...

a knight to remember 2

all the knights parading around the arena, getting all of us to cheer for our designated fighter.

they started off the show slowly, playing a few games; the horses did a few jumps and tricks, the knights would show off their skill by picking off rings from their lances, and throwing flowers to the young kids in their seating section.

then we got to the good stuff- jousting on horseback!  as their jousting sticks would shatter on impact, one of them would fall off, which gave way to some hand to hand combat.  sparks would fly as they struck each other's swords, fighting until the king declared one of them the winner, eventually leading, tournament style, to the final victor.  our guy made it to the final round, but lost in the last fight, and it was thrilling!

the final knight who won the tournament then faced off against the big bad guy to save the princess.  sure it may be a bit of a stereotype, but who cares- it was a blast!

a knight to remember 1

the building itself looks pretty cool!  not sure what exactly to expect, i was already on board for whatever they had for us.

hanging out in the lobby, watching the king knight the birthday boys and girls.  beware of creeper jon...

ready to rock- medieval style.

everything is so clearly authentic- especially the bowl and plates.  they shipped them in from china back then too, right?

we were provided crowns to wear while we watched.  of course, jon and i opted to wear them as small as possible, which provided us with endless laughs...

the tasty food they served: half a chicken, a couple ribs, and half a potato.  all without silverware.  nice and messy!

gatecon krispie

amazingly, he waited until we were checked into the hotel room before he tore it open for the inaugural bite!

as the night wore on, even dr. elizabeth weir got in on the action- head first!

after a crazy night of fun, once the fog of morning cleared, this was all the farther he got on the rice krispies treat.  i asked him if he wanted to bring the rest with us, but he said no so we packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel room.  of course, an hour or two later he was hungry and wished he still had it...

gatecon- day 1

jon enjoying a tasty lunch after some hardcore stargate conventioning!  (please note the foreshadowing on his shirt...)

cliff simon shared stories about being the big villian baa'l on stargate sg-1.

the big hallway where there were a bunch of the different actors signing autographs and talking with the fans.

for some reason there was a giant balloon general hammond by the convention hall.  so of course we had to get our picture with it!

as you can see, i am quite excited to have a moment with ol' hammond!

three of the main stars of stargate atlantis, joe flanigan, david hewlett, and paul mcgillion, all shared the stage together- a highlight of the day!

random ledge 38

this lucky boy got himself all kinds of messy when he chowed down on some tasty chocolate!

now thats a hot cowgirl- and a great mama!

enjoying a bit of my birthday cake!

that boy sure knows his way around a cob of corn!

after that corn cob, he was in dire need of a bath...

he loved eating his crackers, but he loved playing with them more...

just having a fun afternoon playing around, right up until the moment when his daddy stepped in to take a picture.  way to ruin the fun, daddy!

practicing his skills at using a big boy cup instead of a sippy!

glad to see lucky again, he was all about the cowboy thing!

having a blast at the local church's playground!

a day at the museum

barbara, always the nurse, got tavish comfortable and ready for a cleaning in the dentist exhibit!

ledger busy doing some shopping at the market exhibit while all the other kids were running around and playing in the treehouse and slide!

a fun game where the floor would glow and you had to stomp on the different colored lights.  after the boys had long since lost interest, the three sisters were still having a blast with this one!

checking out some of the cool displays with grandma.

barbara and i had fun on the full size 'operation' game while ledger chatted away with his fishy...

barbara and diana put on a special puppet show for the boys!  (please note fishy on ledger's lap...)

the puppet play? a captivating and moving drama about the struggles of the inner city.  i think it was called 'cop and cook: a bronx tale'.

the boys by the heart statue at the kids' museum entrance.

tavish back in town

ledger kickin' back and watching some cartoons with one of his favorite cousins and aunties!

the boys playing with the toys.

ledger showing off the airplane he made!

craft time with the mamas!

riding the carousel with auntie barbara!

having a blast with the kids at the water park splash pad!

going down the big boy slide at the park!

playing on his padpad with his cousin- as you can tell, he is loving every minute of it!

alanna had a friend visit for a day or two and we were able to meet up with them at fiddler's hearth downtown.  there just so happened to be an irish band playing that night.  it was really cool- they even took requests!  which means, of course, i had to make a suggestion, and they played 'my brother sylvest' for me!