Bookmarks Festival

We had a great day today at Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors.  I can't believe that this was Bookmarks' TENTH Festival and my first!  It was a super fun day.  Part of the festivities included a parade where kids dressed up as their favorite book character and Clara chose to go as Alice the Fairy (David Shannon).  Here she is, trying out Alice's spell on Rufus:  "Hawkin Tawkin Riggin Fawkin!"  I think, like Alice, she still needs to work on that one a bit.  

Eric Litwin, author of the first four Pete the Cat books was presenting and signing and since Clara is a big fan, we wanted to be sure to check him out.   He gave a super lively "book talk" that was perfect for the big crowd of kids that gathered.  Here's Clara and Miles rocking out to his introduction with their daddies.  

He performed Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (the Pete the Cat book that Clara had brought for him to sign!) and then gave a great reading/singing of his newest book from his new series: The Nuts | Bedtime at the Nut House. (Listen to the song here)

Finally, he invited all the children on stage to teach them the dance and song to his next, yet to be released Nut Family book.

After his performance, the kids in costume began their parade. Clara joined some friends from church who were dressed as fabulous Fancy Nancys.

And after scoring the last copy of his new Nut book, Clara got to meet Mr. Eric and have him sign her new book and her Pete the Cat book.  After a brief interaction he asked, "Is she precocious?"  Yes.  Yes, she is.

We stopped at a few more booths before totally succumbing to the heat and calling it a day.  Thanks, Bookmarks for such a great festival and a cool experience for Clara meeting her first author in person.  We'll be back next year!

Woolly Worm Festival

Since we had such a nice time in the mountains last weekend, we headed back up again for another round.  The leaves have mostly dropped atop Beech Mountain now, but it's a big weekend to be in Avery County because it's the 34th Annual Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk.  What is a woolly worm, you may ask?  It's a brown and black fuzzy caterpillar that's known for its ability to predict the severity of the winter, much like the groundhog predicts when spring is coming.  At the Woolly Worm Festival there are lots of craft booths, rides, fair food, and the main event: Woolly Worm Races.  All the children (and some adults) buy and train (obviously) their chosen worm and then race them before an excited crowd of onlookers.  The winning worm predicts the winter weather.  Clara's not quite big enough for her own woolly worm yet, but we don't think it's ever too soon to begin introducing her to this fun mountain tradition.

It was a wee bit chilly on this mountain today, so we bundled up the baby before heading out....

Once we arrived, we took the obligatory woolly worm festival cut out shot (see photos from years' past here.) with a sweet baby face poking out this year...

As we strolled around, Clara took in the sights and smells....

We cheered on some woolly worms (one was named Rufus!) amidst the crowds

And just glanced at some of the rides, this year.  As much as Clara loves her doorway jumper, I think it'll only be a few years before we're seeing her on this:

When Clara gets a wee bit bigger, we'll help her pick out her very own of these guys...

And put him inside his very own bug barn:

But this year, we just watched them frolic in the woolly worm playground:

Since I didn't make it to the Dixie Classic Fair this year, this was my chance to consume funnel cake, and consume I did!

It was a beautiful fall day, which we enjoyed spending outside with family, smelling the smells of a festival and soaking up the energy and excitement of all gathered there.  We'll be back for the 35th Annual Woolly Worm Festival, and by then, Clara will be ready to start training her own worm!