a trip to the library

today after school robin and i went to the new library in town. a group of lady expats who call themselves the Ladies of the Lake hooked up with some international library building program and it's been open for a few months. i love all kinds of libraries but this one is extra special because it's really the only "real" library in town! mostly it's for the kids with books of all kinds in english and spanish, art supplies, tables, chairs and soon- a big computer lab! BTW, robin is just pretending to use this computer. it's not even plugged in. even though it's a new library, they have a pretty good selection of books. today i read to him "today i feel silly" and "when i was little"-books written by jamie leigh curtis. really cute stories with hilarious illustrations. robin also read from a book on fishing and a magazine on last year's world soccer cup. also, i re-discovered amelia bedelia, remember her? the stories about the bumbling maid who mixes up all her instructions but ends up winning back her job with her fabulous pies and cakes?

anyway....it was our fourth visit in seven days! they are having a reading challenge for the kids this month. all kids who read 10 library books are invited to a library cake and ice cream party on october 27th. yes, it's blatant bribery, but whatever. 4 visits in one week? it's working for us! so robin got his 11th sticker for the board today and he's in the party! it reminded me of the contest my first grade teacher, Miss Kuchkein, sponsored waaaaay back then. we had to read FIFTY books, but somehow i did it. our prizes were an after school trip to the tasty freeze with teacher, where i got one of those soft serve ice creams dipped in the chocolate. yum.

we also came to the library today to pick up something to inspire robin in his school science project, due in 2 weeks. here's a question: how can a school that doesn't even have a science class host a science fair? apparently all the children are expected to participate and come up with a project....and that's allz i knowz about that! robin, too. any suggestions? so we got a couple of science experiments books and a "how things work" kind of book. that should inspire some sciency thought....i have a suspicion that whatever kind of project robin decides on, he will want it to involve baking soda and vinegar explosions of some sort....love ya, steph and robin