Summertime at the Library

This should probably be 3 or 4 posts, but I'm lumping them all into one, because I can. = )

Parking near the downtown library is strictly paid and timed.  This stresses me out.  And, because my mom is a trooper, I dropped her and the 5 kids off at the library, and I drove around until I found somewhere with more time or possibly free to park.

It wasn't too far, and since the kids only had to walk one way, I walked it.  I found 2 playgrounds on my way, so I knew they'd be excited about that!

I completely missed the event, so I don't know what it was about. We regrouped and voted to stay on for lunch and the movie.  They have the meet up and eat up, so it's a school type lunch, but the kids don't seem to mind. = )

Once we finished, we found that we had at least an hour to kill before the movie started, so we took a vote.  We could stay and watch them movie, or go check out the two playgrounds that I saw on my walk!  The playgrounds won.

Where the Red Cedar River meets the Grand River:

Grace got stuck, Juliet wasn't helpful.

 A bench facing the bushes instead of the path and playground (also the river is down there somewhere.)

The first playground was fun, but Alice wanted to go back to the car.  So, Avia took the others to the 2nd playground while Alice and I waited in the car.  They didn't spend long, apparently it wasn't as much fun.

On this trip, I did find some closer places to park. So, now we don't have to walk as far and I don't have to stress about the time, or pay for parking. = )

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On our next trip to the library, I knew where to park, but I still dropped every one off at the door.  I actually made it for most of the presentation!  The theme was Animals in Space.

Rosie the tarantula!

Sweetpea the Parrot:

Emily had a question.

And Yurtle the Turtle.  Yurtle was the only one that the audience was allowed to pet, so they were all very excited. = )

We stayed on for lunch, and my kids were pleased to find out that they were eating tacos.

MSU had an outreach program for the bigger kids on DNA.  So, my mom stayed with them while William, Grace, Juliet and I hung out upstairs in the kids' area.

The afternoon movie was the Lego Movie.  It was nice to sit down and actually watch it!

When we left, the big kids took turns doing the 'wheelbarrow' walk with avia on our way back to the car.  Juliet was being particularly whiny about the walk, and so this was a little bit of a distraction.

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Our final trip so far this summer was on a Thursday, and we just went for the movie.  It was Lego Movie 2, which I'd never seen. = )

Dancing to the end credits:

Today we had appointments to keep in the morning, so we missed out on the magician.  Next week Alice and Avia will be back, with Elizabeth. Hopefully we can make it back to the library at some point during her visit!

later days

History for Sale

When we lived in England, we did not have any children.  I spent my days enjoying every novelty in Leeds that I could.  One of my activities was thrift store shopping (shocker) and it was then that I gave Agatha Christie a try.

After devouring Murder on the Orient Express, I purchased and read every used copy of her work that I could find.  When we travelled home, I continued my collection, and my mom added many of her titles to my bookshelf.

I've read every mystery novel that she wrote, as many short stories as I could find, and her autobiography (as well as a few biographies.)  She was an amazing, prolific writer. 

All of that to say, I decided to sell my collection.  Should I ever reread her work, it will be in a convenient format (like my kindle) not the TINY paperback print I read almost a decade ago.

So,  I took an inventory, snapped some pictures and posted it on ebay.  It was a week long auction that sold in the final hour.  I was sad.

But, upon boxing up, I reclaimed an entire shelf for our game collection.

This encouraged me to get a move on planning a party:

We played elefun:

Alice piloted her single player game and ended up playing for over an hour:

And we had to race to the top of the Scooby-Doo tower.

So, I traded books I had no intention of reading ever again, for precious game time with my family.  I'd say I came out ahead. = )

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I also made the tough call of getting rid of a beautiful turtle that Christin bought me when she lived with us, 20 years ago.

It was not a decision made lightly, and so I took pictures and sent her a message.  My turtle will now cycle through my digital picture fame, getting way more views than he has in a long time!

Today, at my yard sale, he went home (for a quarter) with a gentlemen who's intention was to put him out in the garden where he buried his beloved dog.  This thought makes me very happy. = )

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And, we sold a wig* today (or maybe we donated it.)  Avia has all the pictures of Emily donning it, pretending to be her twin, but I thought William wore it well too. = )

later days

*we'd bought it last summer for Emily's snowman box, but none of her snowmen ever wore it, so it had to go. = )