Alex Meets Curious George

Every year now, the U of A sets up The Festival of Books on the mall. Authors come from around the world to sign copies, free books are given out to kids, book stands are everywhere, and there's food, games, and kid activities. We decided to go this year and it was a blast! The kids scored some free reading material, some goodies, and had their faces painted.

First second we walked into the festival, look who we saw!


Alex still loves his tigers. Rarrr!


All the girls were getting butterflies and fairies, so Kate took the road less taken and opted for a Panda. So cute...


Nate really wanted his face painted but he didn't want to be made fun of "like he's a girl", so we begged for a fierce dragon. Looks a little bit more like a cute sea horse, but Ethan managed not to tease him for the afternoon.


Now, I don't know if you realize this but Ethan is almost 11. This means face paint and story time are soooo not cool. He was moaning and groaning about having to be anywhere near these childish activities. Color a book bag? BEEP. Wrong! Watch a puppet show? What if my friends see me?!

So alas, what did we find but the Chess Club tent! Eyes wide, he ran, neigh, flew to the battle to be! Thas BRILLIANT! (Says Kirsten in a British accent)


Do you see the joy? The Chess Afterglow. The best look, though, was when two graduate students from India sat next to them and finished 6 games in 10 minutes. Oh how those jaws dropped!


"Hi Mom. Yes, Ethan is beating me at chess but at least he's not teasing me about my sea horse."


We neglected to check the schedule to see if the kids' favorite authors were in attendance, so we'll definitely check next year!