How was everyone Labor Day weekend? I hope everyone had a great time. There were so many things to do in Atlanta over the weekend I had a hard time choosing. However, being a nerd and bookworm by heart, I couldn’t pass up a chance to check out Decatur Book Festival.
This was a 3 days event book festival at downtown Decatur. I was hoping I could go on Saturday as there were many authors that I would love to meet. But we had other commitments like lunch with Thai friends and neighbor’s birthday party. So I settled with Sunday outing.
We arrived in the afternoon and found plenty of public parking.
The book festival is a great fun outing to introduce young kids to the love of reading. It is very family-friendly and pet-friendly as well. We found so many four-legged friends roaming around. I wished we bring our Java with us.
We knew that this will involve a lot of walking. So I came prepare this time. Everyone wore their most comfortable shoes and the kids each had their own Hydration backpack from REI. It’s a backpack that has a pouch for water. So they can carry their own drink and sip on those water whenever they want. It was such a big hit and we got several compliments on them. :) One less thing for us to carry around. I need all hands on deck to carry all the books we will buy.
The weather was perfect. It was sunny but not too hot. We walked around enjoying different activities for kids like making your own book mark, listening to the story teller, watching the martial art performance and creating their own story book. After a while, even with such a nice weather the little legs needed a break. So I went to our favorite treat for the whole family… I scream, You scream, We scream for Ice Cream..
With more energy from a little red energy bar (popsicle), the kids were ready for more walking and checking out books. Another reason I love going to the local fair and festival is the chance to get to know about local groups or businesses like Cooking for Monkeys – this cool mommy blogger who makes the coolest lunch box or Sheltering Arm – a great nonprofit eduational organization that helps bringing books to all kids.
We also stopped by local independent children bookstore – Little Shop of Stories. A cute bookstore that is perfect for kids of all ages and adult too. Mr. Z was so into reading. We had a hard time getting him out of the store.
Ok.. I admitted there is another reason I love festival and it is FOOD. I love festival food especially the Funnel Cake. No matter how full I am, I can always find more space for Funnel Cake.
Thanks to Mr. Rojo who reminded me to take the picture of this yummy Funnel Cake. Otherwise, there won’t be any evident that we had one..
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good tip on using the hydration pack. We have one that has been sitting in the closet, I should pull that out to remind me to use it! Thanks for the local links, love to stumble on gems. Sounds like a really great day!
I love book festivals! But yeah, the kids can get pretty wiped out. :)
Funnel cake is hard to resist, too. Fried sugar? Mmmm. Sounds like a great day.
Looks like you guys had such a lovely day! I’m a book nerd too so this would be amazingly fun :-) As for the hydration packs, the kids didn’t mind carrying around the backpacks? I find I normally end up carrying stuff like that for my nieces/kids I nannied for?
@Lora: We think it’s one of the fun thing for them to have their own pack. :) We love checking out local businesses too.
@Mudslidmama: Yup, fried sugar is the only way to truly enjoy the festival for me.
@Shannon: The pack is small enough that it doesn’t weigh a ton for them. Plus I think they feel proud to carry their own drink.