I don't think you can overdo the fairy thing.

Last summer, we took Marley and Rudy to a Fairy House Festival in Maine.  It was scenic and precious and perfect for our two little girls, and I want to do it again before they're too cool for things like fairies or skipping around with wings.  But I also can't justify a three-hour drive or an overnight stay for that event every year.  Which is why it's so great that earlier this month, we went to a scaled-down version with friends in New Hampshire.

Mary and her two girls invited us to join them at Portsmouth's annual Fairy House Tour, which was basically a casual stroll through gardens where professionals and amateurs, like classes of local elementary school students, had placed their thoughtfully and sweetly designed fairy houses.  

Our little gang of fairy aficionados started the day racing from house to house, crouching down excitedly to look at details like acorn-top bowls on wee wooden tables with twig-legs.  They skipped through a thin cloud of floating bubbles before our walk got longer and slower, and we took a break at a table in the middle of a small children's garden already set for a fairy tea party.  We eventually made it to an outdoor fairy ballet and wrapped up the afternoon with ice cream at Izzy's in downtown Portsmouth.  Izzy's ice cream flavors included salted caramel, and that, along with the extended lack of meltdowns, means that as far as I'm concerned, it was a version of a magical day.