We started our Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations early this weekend by checking out Tết Trung Thu Children’s Festival. Sophia was super excited to pull out her áo dài, the traditional Vietnamese long dress. I know all parents say this, but I look at this photo and I remember when she was a wee baby. She’s become such a little lady. (Jaxson wore his New Orleans Saints jersey, in case you’re wondering.)
We arrived a little late in the afternoon but it was madhouse. It was definitely a festival for kids, which I appreciated! We bought $5 worth of tickets and played various games. The kids played carnival type games like plinko, tossing ping pong balls in cups, shooting darts, and bean bag toss. I appreciated that each kid won a prize, no matter how they fared in the game.
The biggest hit for both the kids was at the VietKidsDC table. They got to make and decorate their own lantern. Jaxson went with the foam stickers while Sophia went with jewels. No surprises there! It’s a very simple craft that you can make with your kids. Here’s my paper lantern tutorial on Kiwi Crate.
While the kids were making their lanterns, I had a chance to chat with Tini of VietKidsDC. She created a Vietnamese language program for preschoolers. Come back tomorrow for an interview with Tini and learn more about her program!
Yesterday was a great start to our Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. I think on the actual festival night, September 19, I’ll take the kids out to view the full moon. I’m thinking about making some bánh bao, white steamed buns because the look like a full moon. It’ll be a fun dish the kids can help make.
Lately I’ve been a slacker about cooking Vietnamese food and speaking Vietnamese to the kids, so I’m glad that we had a chance to go to the children’s festival. I wish we could have stayed for the stage show afterwards but the kids were super hungry. Ironically, we found a tasty Mexican/El Salvadorian restaurant for dinner.