International Fairy Day

This morning we went looking for fairies. It was quite cold and the gutters were filled with snow and slushy mud. Our first stop was Peaceable Kingdom. There was no closed sign on the fairy door, but the lights in their shop didn't apppear to work, so perhaps they were closed after all. Peaceable Kingdom itself was open, and the girls each spent a long time choosing a toy to buy (Niece #1 settled on worry dolls and Niece #2 settled on a (machine) knit piggy finger puppet). I bought some magnets, including a Paper House Productions Stop Sign and a Mind over Magnets Weights & Measures Conversion Chart.

Next we scurried over to SweetWaters Cafe to see their fairy door. Again, no actual fairies were sighted, though both girls had their nets ready just in case. Then it was off to the "bread store" for a piece of bread, and then we had a super quick (15 minutes start to finish) lunch of Mexican food, with the best chimichanga my sister in law has ever tasted. We made it back to town and to the girls' school right at start time: 12:32 pm.

After school (where both kindergarten classes had an ice cream party), the girls emptied out their Valentines and we inspected all the cards and candy. I lobbied in vain for someone's Blow Pop, but she declined to share. The other child, however, generously gave me the licorice jelly beans out of the bag of 100 beans she had taken to school for her Hundredth Day collection (Her sister took pom poms for her contribution).

After a yummy dinner of salmon, asparagus, and potatoes, we hit Multicultural Night at the school. We arrived late and only saw the last few minutes of the performances, but then we spent the next hour in the gymnasium, visiting Japan, Pakistan, the USA, Mexico, Canada, Romania, Ireland, Russia, England, Armenia, India, China, and Japan. The girls had their passports stamped at each stop, and sampled lots of food.

Both girls said their favorite food samples were the native apples. Niece #2 also liked the Irish table water crackers and the Russian yogurt. Niece #1 liked the Russian yogurt, Chinese shrimp crackers, and the Chinese fortune cookies. I didn't taste much, but I loved the Mexican anise-seed cookie that Niece #2 to finish, and I also liked the Armenian baklava. The only other thing I tasted was an Indian coconut sweetmeat.

Many of the students' younger siblings performed and were also dressed in native costume, and the little Pakistani and Indian girls looked cute in their finery. Someone at the Indian table was painting Mehndi on students' hands. I would have liked to have that done, but the line was long, and it was all little girls, so I didn't think I should horn in.