Tennis, anyone?

Great day today. Since we had the day to ourselves, it was April's suggestion that we play tennis at Collins Park. First, we had to go to Payless so she could get new shoes. Once we did that, it was off to the park. Even though I beat her in straight sets (6-4, 6-4), that linescore is nowhere near indicative of just how well she played. April may be a big girl, but damn, she was moving all over the damn court. Admittedly, I was trying to play her size to my advantage, but she so proved me wrong. Shots I thought beyond her ability to get to and return, she did--often times with success. And annoyingly, her depth perception was amazing--she had luck or skill with her today, plunking shots that JUST hit the boundary lines.

The longest game of the match came in the first set, when I was up 4-3, myself serving. It must have gone to deuce somewhere close to 10 times--or at least, that's what it felt like, before I finally claimed the win, making it 5-3. The rest of the first set would not be easy. I had blown 2 set points before finally closing it out on the third, winning 6-4. The second set I nearly cruised through. We both traded breaks of serve, and then April went up 2-1. I then rattled off 4 straight wins to make it 5-2, but then April made a late charge, making it 5-4. On the final game of the match, with myself serving, April saved 3 match points, but on the final serve, April's return went long, and it was game, set, match for me.

A great match...she fought, and fought well. I'm glad she proved me wrong. I look forward to our next match, where she just might beat me if she played as well as she did today.

Watching a pirate fire drill.

So the opening weekend of the Faire has come and gone. Day 1 of Faire was quite awesome. It was a lovely day, and most of it was spent getting Annie outfitted in some lovely garb--much better than what she had from the costume rental. Pics will probably be on my Facebook and/or deviantART shortly. Ryan completed his basic costume by purchasing some boots, and then we made the mistake of going into the leather shop--because who doesn't look good in leather? Ryan now is determined to get a leather cape he tried on. While many things look nice in there, that's definitely a planned purchase--there are things in there one can drop their whole paycheck on. We caught some of the performers, like Philip Hole (ta-da!!!), Henry Martin (poor guy--he was NOT having the best of days...nothing like having your guitar go out of tune in mid-song), a bit of the Crown Madrigals, and of course, the Crimson Pirates. While they were still great, the lack of Crossbones McCoy and Tom were noticeable. After the day ended (as in, Lord Burleigh kicked us out), we went back to my aunt's house, happy and tired.

The next day began with rain. And continued with rain. And even more rain. And yet more rain. With some extra rain. And if you call in the next 30 minutes, you'll get even more rain absolutely free. But because you're such a good customer, we'll throw in some thunder and lightning as well. We got to Faire, and alas, most of it was spent under cover of shops. However, it was yesterday that Ryan and I managed to acquire our various shiny things. Ryan got a sword, and I got my rapier. Pics of that to come soon as well. The last part of the day was spent under a covered eating area, where a Wyatt found us, and we chatted and had some lunch before security called the day at 2 PM on account of the thunderstorms. And by then, the entire Shire had become, for all intents and purposes, a lake. On our way out, we did briefly see Sara and Nicki. We did get comp tickets, though--free admission for our next trip. This is good, because our next trip will be Labor Day weekend, in which that will cover Saturday's admission.

And of course, after we leave, the sun comes out, and it doesn't rain for the rest of the day. Needless to say, I ran off a string of obscenities and obscene gestures at the Almighty, praying for downpours the rest of the day to justify the shortened weekend. Because of it, it was decided by the three of us (April, Ryan, and I) to head home. A good idea--both of them were passing out on our way to Rockland Bakery. Once there, we bought half the bakery's bread (so it seemed), and then came the 2-hour drive back up here.

Since we took today off (because we thought we'd be driving back home this morning), it'll probably be a loaf day--maybe some tennis with April. Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!