Sanbox List Adventure 29: Meeting Your Hero

We have 13 of them.

Over the past year we’ve collected 13 of them. We started with three and now we have 13. I’m sure the count is gonna keep on rising. Apparently the Cape Crusader is the best superhero on Earth, even though he doesn’t actually have superhero powers, he’s super skilled in martial arts and has all kinds of gadgets to assist his crime fighting capabilities.

So it was of the utmost important that we didn’t miss meeting him.

At last year’s Festival of Books, we witnessed the awesomeness of The Justice League read one of their adventures on stage, but failed to meet them in person, which did not go over well with the kids. Luckily I was able to distract them with snacks, samples, superhero books, Captain Underpants, Scooby-Doo, and other scavenger hunt prizes.

I was packing light this year, and didn’t think sandwiches, Cutie oranges, cheese sticks, and graham crackers would cut it. So I was determined to weave my way in and out of the overheated masses and their cranky parents to reach the Meet-and-Greet line. I was on a mission to make the introduction. I was on a mission to make a Sandbox List Adventure come true.

So I was a little worried when a guy wearing a batman t-shirt and cap came on stage to read Skyscraper Showdown. I didn’t see Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, or Batman. Don’t get me wrong the guy was quite animated and very into the story, but he had nothing on the Cape Crusader.

I began to worry as my son asked me for the third time where Batman was and my daughter was wondering when Flash or Wonder Woman were going to show up … but then just as the Joker was about to escape … he showed up and the crowd went wild. Apparently it was one of the best readings we attended. And even though Batman was the only superhero there, my daughter followed her brother’s lead and enjoyed the book.

But the magic of reading didn’t stop there.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the books, going on adventures that can only happen with literary magic, listening to music, and meeting all kinds of authors. It was one of the best Sandbox List Adventures this year. I know that because they’re still talking about it.

 

We got there early and saddled-up for an awesome adventure.

 

One of our first stops was checking out the featured band … they woke everybody up with their awesome jams.

 

We followed that up by adding our names and some of our favorite books to the wall of inspiration. My son of course chose Batman 🙂 My daughter chose The Very Hungry Caterpillar book. I decided to add The Alchemist, Eat Pray Love, and The Life of Pi.

 

We managed to play a few games before we went to the main event.

 

Then we headed to the Children’s Stage to check out our main event. We got front seats and enjoyed the reading of Skyscraper Showdown.

 

However the crowd went wild when this guy showed up …

 

My son was starstruck. He could barely contain himself. He was so excited to meet his hero and have Batman sign his book. It was his cartwheel-worthy moment of the week.

 

When the awesomeness of the Cape Crusader was done, we explored the rest of the festival and discovered new authors.

 

During our exploration this was one of the funnest books and booths we discovered. My daughter did her best surfer pose and joined the characters of the book.

 

During our browsing session, I found this book that caught my eye. The fact that Diego Luna read it aloud intrigued me.

 

After we picked up all of our books, from new and established authors, we headed home with all kinds of inspiration and new ideas.

 

 

 

 

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Super Friends Rock the Book Festival

I never knew how powerful masks, capes, and superpowers could be, but I was enlightened this weekend at the annual Festival of Books.

We had a great time last year but failed to stop by at one of the booths, and we missed one of the readings.  We missed it. We missed it! I heard about for days. My son’s long-term memory was a little too amazing for me. So seeing how I didn’t want a repeat performance this year, I prepared all the snacks, packed all the avoid-toddler-meltdown accessories, and gassed up the care the night before. This time … this time I would see to it that we would arrive early enough so that we would not be mauled by the masses as we tried to get a glimpse of the Justice League and browse through all the Super Friends adventure books. And even though I slathered everybody with Coppertone Sunscreen, we were still baking in the sun and I felt that SPF 50 might not have been enough. My in-case-of-emergency chocolate was melting.

But despite all the heat my kids managed to wiggle themselves into the front row, and they stayed in the front row, regardless of all the sweaty kids, red-faced parents, and loud speakers surrounding us. My little Guats stayed in the front row fascinated by the reading performed by Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, The Flash and Batman. I guess Superman was out saving the world, but even without The Man of Steel the event was packed and some of the books were sold out. Luckily my son was able to snag a few of his favorites, and this put him in a great mood for the rest of the day.

After our little superhero experience, we continued to explore the Festival of Books and found a lot of little great surprises that made this adventure a good one.

 

This year’s Festival of Books poster.

 

The excitement builds as we make our way toward the entrance.

 

The masses waiting for the Super Friends to take the stage.

 

What everyone was waiting for 🙂 And as the audience was silent, eagerly listening to every word the Super Friends read you could see my one-year old daughter waving her arm and hear her say … HI BATMAN! HI! BATMAAAAAAN. BATMAAAAN. BATMAAAAAAAAAAN. There was no use shushing her.

 

My son engaging in super hero acts as they read aloud.

 

Happiness sets in as my son was able to find a few of his favorites.

 

After we bought our books, we explored the rest of the festival and ran into other surprises … Captain Underpants being one of them.

 

As we kept walking, we came across the Warner Bros. booth and decided to participate in the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine Scavenger Hunt.

 

My son completing one of the scavenger hunt activities.

 

My kids dressing up the potato heads in the best superhero costumes they could find.

 

Once we finished all the activities, we got in line to collect our prizes.

 

After all those people and kids, and heat,, it was time for a juice box-sandwich break. As we ate, my son browsed the books he bought. This one in particular was my favorite — Steam Train, Dream Train. We got a chance to meet the authors and have them sign his book. I was so excited, probably more so than my son. I think they enjoyed my Guat energy.

 

As I began to pack up and search for a place to change my daughter’s diaper, I saw something awesomely wonderful for parents courtesy of Target. A baby changing station. Dude … Dude.

 

I didn’t even need to unpack my ginormous diaper bag and search for baby powder. They had it all … sanitizer, diapers of every size, wipes, aloe, lotion, butt cream, and baby powder. It also provided a private area for feeding, which included a rocking chair and fan. Dude. I’m surprised there wasn’t a line around the block.

 

In the end it was a good adventure, filled with superheroes who rocked the festival, scavenger hunts, plenty of Coppertone SPF 50, book signings, free diapers, no traffic on the way home, and sleeping kids relaxing in their car seats.