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Fun at the festival

Well, we went to the Diwali festival, and it wasn't quite what I had hoped. Not bad, but not what I wanted.

First off, we got there late. Which meant that we had to park a long way away, which meant that we got to the festival even later. We arrived at the park just as the dancing was over, which was too bad. Amanda loves to dance, and she had fun dancing to the last performance. I think that she amused people, this little blonde girl imitating the Indian dancers on stage... I ran into one of my professors from graduate school, which was an amazing coincidence---there were hundreds of people, but there he was, with his volunteer ribbon on, telling us about what we had to see. It was hard to find the people we had arranged to meet, much less someone I hadn't seen for probaby 6 years.

Eleanor really wanted to go to the bazaar and spend some of her allowance, but it was much too crowded for the stroller. We managed to get some food. Because it was so crowded and we were so harried, we ended up getting way too much, spending way too much money, and throwing out some. The samosas, in particular were fantastic. I didn't want Amanda eating any of it (there is much too much ghee in Indian cooking for my comfort with her allergies), it was too spicy for Luke, and Eleanor frumped and would put an infinitesimal amount on her tongue and complain that it was too spicy.

It was a little spicy. It was also good. But we could have had a much nicer dinner at an Indian restaurant for less money, and with better seats (we were sitting on pine straw on the ground...). But next year, I have a plan. Bring food for the kids so we just buy for the adults (but make them take tastes), get there early enough to see lots of dancing and music and the kids tent, and before the crowd comes at 5:30, drive away.

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