First the good part. Louisa has found her tribe: the cosplayers. Cosplay, in case you don't know and why would you, is short for "costume play." Cosplayers dress up as their favorite characters from TV, movies, comics, books, games--whatever they love--and then they get together and revel in their creativity.
The biggest one locally is Kumoricon, a celebration of all things Japanese but mainly anime and manga. Both Lou and Jo, and to a lesser extent myself, love anime and manga, but Lou...Lou LOVES it, and LOVES cosplay. The picture is her dressed as China, a character from the anime Hetalia.
We spent Saturday and Sunday at Kumoricon, and Lou was so happy she cried half the weekend in joy. She's come back with a fervent desire to learn how to sew properly, and I'm going to do my best to teach her.
The bad part: The line to get in was three-plus hours long, much in full sun and all in the heat. I lasted a little over two before I almost collapsed of heat exhaustion and was carted off to the hospital with poor Lou sobbing in the ambulance with me. I'm all right, but I'm still sore; I brought a camp stool with me and it resulted in essentially my doing a series of squats, over and over. My thighs still ache! We went back the next day and Lou spent it in absolute bliss. I'm so happy for her. 