Festa Junina

We went out this weekend, which for a family with tiny kids and a baby, is pretty exciting just in and of itself.
I didn't take any pictures. And so, I shall write.
This whole weekend, there was a Festa Junina at our neighborhood Catholic church. I'm not going to try and explain all about it here, but here's a link to the Festa Junina article on Wikipedia. Suffice it to say, it's a festival like an American carnival or fair, with some fun traditions and activities.
So the girls and I headed over on Friday evening leaving a sleeping William and a gleeful Kevin, who jumped at the chance to stay home. I made Penny a little Festa Junina skirt, intending to make the rest of the dress at some point. But I've finally learned something about making clothes for the girls: always make the bigger one first. That way when I don't finish them for a year or two, I'll still have Naomi to squeeze into it. But try telling that to the 6-month-sized dress that's half-finished in my to-do pile. Maybe next year Naomi will fit into this Festa Junina dress, and I will have gotten around to making an even bigger one for next year's Penny. No promises. But I can't imagine having LESS free time next year. The baby's not getting any younger.
So we went to the festival, where they were selling all sorts of flashing light toys, balloons, and other stuff for parents to spoil their whining children with. I saw this from hundreds of yards away, though, and told the girls we'd walk around the WHOLE fair before deciding what to buy. And it worked! We walked around the fair, where they were selling all the Festa Junina foods, and then we bought tickets for the girls to go "fishing." They were pretty excited to catch their fish and then get a prize-- a Brazil tambourine for Naomi and some butterfly stickers for Penny. Then we bought a hot dog on a stick for the girls. I tried some of the arroz doce, corn pudding, and then some chocolate pudding with the last of my tickets. I liked them alright, but I brought most of it home to share with Kevin.
One of the Festa Junina traditions is to have a love letter delivery service during the fair. There were some teenage girls with hearts stuck on their shirts, and from what I understand, people can write a note and have these girls deliver it anonymously. I'm pretty sure that if I had been a teenager in Brazil, this is where I would have spent all my money-- first to write secret admirer notes to the guys I liked at the moment, but more importantly, to write a bunch of fake ones for my friends to get all excited about. If you've never written a fake love letter for someone, you've never lived. Add it to your bucket list.
So, the girls jumped on the trampolines for a few minutes, and then on our way out, we bought some firecracker poppers (those little things you throw on the ground and they pop). I was pretty impressed that even Naomi, being able to reach about 3 feet off the ground on her tippy toes, could even throw them hard enough to pop. The girls and I emptied an entire pack and then headed home at about 8:00.
When we left, we were pretty much swimming upstream. The party was just beginning. People were still coming, bringing their dressed-up kids who were as small or smaller than mine. Brazilian kids are on a different schedule than my American ones, that's for sure! If I brought my kids to something starting at 8:00 and tried to keep them awake for the duration of it, you certainly wouldn't call it a party. Torture session, more like it.
But anyway. I'm glad we went. Maybe next year I'll make the girls dresses, and then I'll be sure to take pictures. Happy Festa Junina, y'all!