Kids Day

El Burrito had a blast today. Our local PBS station does something called Kids Day every year - free admission, they bring a couple of celebrities (Clifford, Grover, and Curious George this year), and local groups or stores can come and have a booth to hand out freebies or whatever. We ended up with a scheduling conflict, so DH and I had to leave after half an hour, but my mom drove up and spent the afternoon with hi m. Apparently they stayed until the end, and had a great time. I was a little worried, El B cried when we left him standing in line to see Grover, but I guess he perked up after we left. He's smiling in his pictures anyway.

El B got to meet Clifford (twice), Grover, and Curious George, but not Miss Rosa (the local hostess for the PBS Kids shows). He came home with a ton of stuff, too.

• his very own wooden toolbox, which he made himself (with help), courtesy of Home Depot
• orange workshop apron (ditto)
• stickers - I stopped counting at 15. Clifford, Sid the Science Kid, etc
• Frisbee from the Little Gym
• purple coneflower seeds from the city's composting department
• 3 cards that he ink-stamped for us
• bookmarks - at least 4
• two temporary tattoos
  
• a boat made with a paper plate and a paper sail
• pirate hat from a folded comics section
• two free books (thanks to Scholastic and Clifford)
• one apple
• one sucker
• one piece of candy from Sylvan Learning (I didn't sign him up to win 30 hours of free tutoring, guaranteed to raise him a grade level. He's four.)
• four uninflated balloons (he wanted the Thomas the Train foil balloons)
• two bottles of sunscreen on carabiners
• a pencil with rubber duckies on it
• a rubber duckie eraser/pencil topper
• a Sid the Science kid eraser
• a little WordWorld story
  
• Sesame Street "Talking Cents" magazine
• three Happy Pet coloring books
• a handful of coloring/activity pages
• a park brochure about bats and how to build a cave diorama
• a free french fries coupon from McD's
• 10 free tokens at Chuck E Cheese (where we don't ever plan on going)
• assorted bits and pieces of paper
• a nice paper-towel painting he did for me - something about spraying food coloring on a piece of saran wrap and putting the towel on it
• a watermelon seed in a little pot
  

I think that's it. Lots of organizations had booths set up - the local Stream Team, public radio station, the recycling section of the city's public waste department, Scholastic, Usborne books. Those are just the ones I remember, and we weren't there long enough to see 10% of it before we had to leave.

Fun day at the library

Today was the first storytime of the summer, so we (meaning El Burrito, our lovely night owl) had to start getting up in time to get to the library on time. Today's theme was Pirates, with El Burrito's favorite librarian, Miss Chris, and Miss Angela. Fun time - he even sat up front for the stories, although he migrated back to me for the songs. He's weird about loud noises.

Played for a while, including chasing a couple of kids around trying to get them to look at his (invisible) car. They were confused when he said his name was Bob the Builder. I got to read a whole People, and the cover of Time, before we went hunting Bob the Builder books. And of course he had to climb the stairs up to the third floor before the book sale started.

He totally scored some deals at the sale - best find was the Complete Adventures of Curious George, paperback, for $2. In great condition, other than a faded spine, too. A hardback picture book about fossils, a hardback book of nursery rhymes with Pooh as the main character, a small I Spy book, and another Pooh story. I got a 50-cent copy of Little Women, in hardback, and four ex-library novels (2 mystery, 2 fantasy) for 25-cents each.

El Burrito also finagled himself a muffin from the cafe/kiosk in the lobby. Yes, I gave in - he was whining, and I had a splitting headache. Give him one "library snack" and he wants one every time now. Sigh.

A quote

And for a moment, as she sat there with her friend, with the late-afternoon sun slanting in through the window, she thought about how she owed her father so much. He had taught her almost everything she knew about how to lead a good life, and the lessons she had learned from him were as fresh today as they ever had been. Do not complain about your life. Do not blame others for things that you have brought upon yourself. Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself.

She closed her eyes. You can do that in the company of an old friend -- you can close your eyes an d think of the land that gave you life and breath, and of all the reasons why you are glad that you are there, with the people you know, with the people you love.

(Alexander McCall Smith - The Double Comfort Safari Club, p. 211.)