Kids Off the Couch: Fair Thee Well! Princess Bride PLUS Renaissance Pleasure Faire May 2, 2008

Mothers of elementary and middle school-aged children, Kids Off The Couch's founders yearned to take back the weekend from an endless crush of birthday parties and sports games. Faced with the dreaded creep of screen-time in their kids' lives, they made the radical choice to get on the couch with their kids. Since then they have unearthed memorable films, from classic to campy, and helped kids become media savvy by exposing them to cinema the way their teachers expose them to literature.

Family movies don't get any better than The Princess Bride. A clever story-within-a-story, this film opens with a very modern boy home from school, intent on spending the day playing electronic games. When Grandpa shows up to babysit with a very un-modern idea -- to read a book together -- the young boy retorts "I'll try to stay awake." And oh, does he ever! With fencing and fighting, giants and monsters, there's plenty for the young lads. Our maidens were just as captivated with the fairy tale story line -- Buttercup, a beautiful maiden, falls in love with a farm boy, who promises to make his way in the world and then marry her. Of course, no romance goes untested, and the couple must battle evil Princes and dread pirates to rescue true love. Lest adults worry that this film is just another romp in routine fairy tale land, be corrected. With quips as sharp as swordplay, a cast of delightfully kooky characters and outlandish plot twists, we were as caught up in this fanciful fairy tale as our kids.

Within seconds of passing through the gates of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, which runs for six weeks each spring at fairgrounds just east of Pasadena, your family will be swept back to a simpler time. Nearly everyone attending the fair gets into the spirit of the age (Elizabethan England, that is) by dressing in costume and speaking with phrases sprinkled with words like "thee" and "thou". Our kids were briefly stunned by the complete, enthusiastic involvement of the crowd but were soon throwing out their own versions of Elizabethan phrases. Get thee to a jousting match, indeed! With eight stages full of hilarious shows (a gut-splitting mime show featuring MooNiE and Broon was our absolute favorite) our kids quickly grew accustomed to seeing wandering minstrels, jugglers and bagpipes and did some sword-fighting of their own. Family favorites included a fun dragon maze, a swing set so large that a giant could ride it comfortably, and pony rides in the Kids Kingdom. The fair is so well produced that our carny fears were quickly dissipated, and we gave over to the pleasures of the age - gnawing on gigantic turkey legs, shopping for cool leather pouches and just enjoying the vibe of a crowd that is nostalgic for years gone by.

Official Website: http://www.kidsoffthecouch.com/archives/adventure.php?nAdventureID=334&nLocationID=2#the_film