The Calkins Girls try LARPing

Anyone that refers to themselves as a nerd knows that there are many tiers of nerdom.  For instance, liking Star Wars may seem a little nerdy, but since it has become pretty mainstream, it is certainly a low-threat.  Liking Star Trek though, means that you are delving further down the rabbit hole.  Everyone has a different scale too, one that likely includes less mainstream board games (check), Dungeons & Dragons (check), and even miniatures for wargaming that you painted yourself (*hangs head*… check).  Of all the possible tiers for me, Live-Action Roleplaying (in tandem with cosplay) is my red line (for some it is Star Trek, others Dungeons & Dungeons, while some have nothing that is “too far”).  Having said that up front though, I always aim to be a good friend first.  And when my friend Steve invited my daughters and I to join him and the local Amtgard chapter at Veterans Memorial Park in Sierra Vista, we would not have missed it for the world.

Wyvern’s Roost is the local Amtgard chapter that Steve is a part of.  On its website, Amtgard is described as “a world-wide organization dedicated to medieval and fantasy combat sports and recreation” that uses “padded weapons, fantasy and authentic clothing, and imagination to immerse players in a world of heroic combat, quests, crafts, and more.”  Medieval combat sports… I can get behind that.  But I was not dressing up or doing anything fantasy related; Steve was just happy we made an appearance.  The girls, on the other hand, did not care in the least.  They just grabbed the smallest foam swords they could find and started pummeling on the chapter members.

The chapter members were all really great around them too.  While some of them just let the girls wail on them (with or without a shield for protection), others taught them how to hold a sword properly or how to block with a shield.

And of course, the girls wanted to pummel each other as well.  Much better doing it with foam swords in the company of the experts than with their plastic scepters at home.

But they seemed to have more fun around the other members because this was the only chance the had to beat up on adults.  Definitely safer to be hitting them than each other.  Or Dad.

While this was much more of an unorthodox activity than we are use to, the girls and I still had a lot of fun.  If you have not learned anything else from the activities on this blog, know that when you try new things, your little ones will always surprise you.  Even if it involves hitting each other with foam swords.  Thanks again for checking in on us and thanks to Wyvern’s Roost for inviting us to their event.

Cheers!