Ode to a Little Green Glow Thingy

Well... today, we were planning on staying home. But we were lured into town by news of the 1st ever Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival... which is also a moon festival. It was held at the landmark center by Rice Park. We invited Steve and Josh to join us, then got Gary and Ada to tag along, as well. We arrived around 5pm and dove into crafts. The girls made bamboo fish lanterns (later to house glow sticks), painted wooden dragonflies, and constructed a booklet with the harvest festival story. Later, we also got to see traditional dancers, listened to a storyteller, and learned a festival song (which sounded much better in Vietnamese, than in the English translation). Holden and Josh weren't really into the festivities, but horsed around a great deal, which seemed to make it bearable for them. Afterwards, the entire group took their glowing lanterns and had a foot parade over to Rice Park and sang the song we learned. Then, the kids just played in the park. It was a beautiful night to be out in the city. And we had great parking karma! Got a spot really close. Of course, the night ended on a somewhat somber note. Holden took his glow stick and thought it might be interesting to stick it in the hole on the back seat that is meant to house the head rest. Glow sticks check in, but they don't check out. He could see it glowing, but it wasn't possible to get it out. When I got home, I even took off the seat and shook it upside down trying to get it out... to no avail. Back did not appreciate that. In any event, Holden cried all the way home (despite Ada's grand gesture of giving him her glow stick). All he kept saying was that "I'm really worried about my glowy thingy." Then, he'd collapse into more tears. Life is difficult when you're four.