International Festival

When taking your children on a trip around the world would be a slight strain on the budget, going to the International Festival is the next best thing, right?!

We have our passports and we're ready to go!

 

At a lot of the booths, the kids asked questions about the countries and asked about some basic words and greetings in that country's language. Clara cracked me up because at several of the booths she asked, "How do you say 'chocolate milk' in Spanish?" Here they are getting their names written in Chinese:

 

Checking out Philippine currency:

 

Participating in Italian street painting (they said they painted "fire"):

 

Cruising around Asia:

 

Meredith brought a purse full of change and LOVED purchasing little knick-knacks at the various booths. Here she is buying an Origami Christmas ornament from "Japan."

 

Learning about Brazil:

 

Eating Indian, Egyptian, and Mexican food at lunch, while watching Japanese dancers on the stage. (Yes, I did bring peanut butter for Clara, just as an emergency back-up and I'm GLAD I did!)

 

Getting an Indian jewel to wear on their foreheads:

 

Playing instruments and handling the colorful fabrics from Nigeria:

 

We thought the Swedish folks were the friendliest! Here is Meredith with her purse again, purchasing candy for herself and Clara:

 

Listening to an accordion at the Czech Republic booth:

 

Dolls from various regions in Poland:

 

Proud of their Swiss heritage! (We got some free cookbooks with yummy, authentic dishes--if only I can convert it all from the metric system first!)

 

Swiss chocolate is the best ...

 

One of the most awesome parts of the festival was sitting-in on a Naturalization Ceremony. It was a very proud, very emotional moment. There were 190 applicants from numerous and diverse countries around the globe. I'm really glad I got to see this.

 

Ending the day with gelato, of course.

 

A full passport and a full, happy day. We all definitely want to go again!