Life According to Kiera: A Knight To Remember

Written by Rowonna McNeely – Friday we traveled to Dallas to enjoy one of Kiera’a Christmas gifts. It was a combination of things she enjoys. A little theater, a few horses, knights and throw in a queen. Aaron and I felt fairly certain we could not go wrong with this gift. If you haven’t figured it out yet, we had bought tickets to Medieval Times in Dallas.

She was ecstatic…after she figured out exactly what it was. The marketing department at Medieval Times had been nice enough to send us some pictures that we printed out and wrapped up for her to open on Christmas day. We even made a calendar counting down the days until we left.

We arrived in Dallas a couple of hours early and checked into our hotel. Kiera spent the first ten minutes checking out our room and the next couple of hours she spent ensuring that we would not be late for our show.

Finally, we headed out for the fifteen-minute drive to Medieval Times.  We managed to survive the short drive with Aaron only arguing a couple of times with the GPS and Kiera occasionally piping up with from the back seat with driving tips.

“There it is!” Kiera squealed from the back seat as the castle came into view. “Right there!”

Aaron pulled into the parking lot and we quickly exited the truck. Kiera bounded across the parking lot to stand in front of the moat. “Look!” She pointed at the moat while bouncing on the balls of her feet.

We made our way into the castle and after checking in, we were given our seat location along with our crowns. The color of your ticket depicted the knight that you would be cheering for during the tournament. Kiera was a little disappointed that she did not get to pick the color she wanted. That lasted for almost a whole minute.

“My lady.” Said the gentleman at the entrance as he settled her green crown on her head.  Her disappointment immediately vanished and she tilted her head in slight acknowledgment of the title.

“Thank you.” She replied, moving into the next room.

While we waited for the show/tournament to start we wandered around the castle.  We watched as the Queen knighted a few different people and even got an up close look at the falcon.

We made our way into the arena and to our seats. Our server came by and introduced his self, letting us know the color of our enemies that were seated around the arena.

Moments later, the lights went out leaving us in total darkness.  Music began to play and a spotlight lit up the arena.  We watched as fog began to creep in from the edges of the arena and suddenly we were drawn back in time… a time where chivalry, tradition and honor reigned.

The Queen was introduced and she sat on her throne, announcing that she had entertainment for her guests. We gazed in awe at the pageantry of the beautiful horses as they danced and trotted out into the arena. It was amazing as each horse showed off its own unique performance.

It was then time to introduce the knights. The King of Arms began each introduction by telling of their exploits and what land each knight represented. Kiera quickly picked up on hissing “boos” at the other knights as they entered the arena.

Then our knight entered. The Green Knight. We immediately felt pride for him as he rode in on his horse, we cheered until we couldn’t cheer anymore.

Kiera was enthralled as we watched the knights’ battle on horse, jousting, swinging swords and other medieval weapons. When the knights did well in competition, the Queen would award them with flowers.  The knights then carried the flowers over to their cheering section and bestowed them on different individuals.

The first time the Green Knight threw out his flowers, he did not see Kiera waving. Her shoulders drooped for a moment before she was drawn back into the next contest. The next time the Green Knight made his way over, he noticed Kiera waving from her seat. He kissed the flower and tossed it in her direction.

You could see the hope in his face as he let the flower fly. We were after all two rows up. It arced perfectly and she reached out for the flower… and tipped it into a lady’s lap two seats down from us.

The lady didn’t hesitate as she plucked the flower from her lap and handed it down to Kiera. The relief on the Green Knight’s face was palpable. Kiera clutched the flower tightly as she inhaled from the petals. To my knowledge, she never laid that flower down during the show.

In fact, it is currently residing in a glass of water, for a couple more days anyways, until we dry it and place it in a shadow box.

“My new favorite color is green.” She mentioned at one point during the battle.

Our knight lost, but we were still proud of him. “If we see him after this, I want to give him a hug.” Kiera stated. “But only our knight.”

After it was over and we began to file out, Kiera curtsied to each person that was in costume and worked for Medieval Times. It honestly was an amazing experience. The time and energy that is put in to the event is awe-inspiring.

We are already planning our next trip. Thank you, Medieval Times… and to the Green Knight, thank you for making a little girl’s night.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our new blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.