Book Festival and AKR

I finally managed to go to the Library of Congress's National Book Festival this year.  Inevitably we are out of town or it is raining during the festival, and rain makes Jason melt.  We were this close to going and listening to David McCullough a couple of years ago...and then the thunder started...

Ready to get our Encyclopedias signed

Mom, Henry, and me on the Mall

Anyway, in spite of the sunshine this year, Jason stayed home, nursing his lacerated ankle (more on that later), so I took Mom and Henry.  We met up with Dawn and Calvin just in time to hear Amy Krouse Rosenthal read the last few pages of her book "Spoon," then we got a nice little September sunburn waiting in line to meet her.

Awkwardly telling Amy that I, too, have a brother with three sisters

Dawn getting a note for Cal

Dawn and I have a little crush on AKR (or "Amy," as Dawn familiarly calls her).  She wrote this neat little book called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life that we've been passing back and forth for the past seven years or so (except that now we each have our own signed copy).  Plus, Amy writes mostly kids books these days, so Henry now has a nice AKR note in "Bedtime for Mommy."

With our new best friend

Anyway, it was cool to meet her.  I always feel a bit awkward and ridiculous meeting authors (movie stars, singers, etc.) and am relieved to remember that we will never see each other again.  Except maybe Dawn will, since she boldly gave Amy her blog info (if you aren't reading Dawn's blog, you should be).  Plus, it was a pretty amazing fall day, and who doesn't love an amazing fall day on the Mall?