This past Saturday we went to the summer reading program kick-off, which was a carnival of sorts. We got all signed up for the reading program and would have potentially had a lot of fun, had the lines not all been so long. There were booths for all sorts of things: face painting, balloon art, caricatures, and crafts.
We chose the caricature line and stood there for ever. We didn't ever make it to the front of the line, but while we were waiting in line Rachel went off and took a couple of turns on the bouncy castle/slide. Miriam was too afraid to try.
A clown came and visited us and let the girls hold a spinning plate on a stick.
Later Wool E. Bull came by to visit and the girls eagerly got in line to get his autograph. They adore Wool E. Bull—they've been talking about him ever since we went to that baseball game last summer.
We eventually gave up our place in line when we saw we were moving no where fast. We must've stood there for over an hour (with Andrew and I taking turns to shuttle the girls to this activity or that while the other stood in line) and the artist seriously did only two or three portraits the entire time. He was a relatively slow caricaturist.
The line for balloon art was no different. The artist wasn't popping out dogs and flowers and swords left and right to hand to the hordes of eager children. Instead the few lucky patrons got quality balloons.
Same thing with the face painting. No mass-produced daisies and rainbows but instead full on Spiderman masks or butterfly wings.
In all honesty, I think it would have been better to plaster a multitude of children with shoddy workmanship than to give a great treasure to a few.
Anyway, the craft booths were all over the place. They had a few simple crafts, involving toilet paper rolls and things like that, and Miriam and Rachel enjoyed making a few things before we left for the day. We were hot, hungry and tired.
Rachel has already completed 900 points—it's a point per minute read, plus ten points for writing a book review, as well as a few other ways to earn points—and she redeemed them today for her very own library bag and a battery-operated handheld fan (which will be wonderful for our trip). Miriam is accumulating her points a little slower (on a account of I won't sit read to her for three hours in a row) but I think we'll have a great summer of reading.
We chose the caricature line and stood there for ever. We didn't ever make it to the front of the line, but while we were waiting in line Rachel went off and took a couple of turns on the bouncy castle/slide. Miriam was too afraid to try.
A clown came and visited us and let the girls hold a spinning plate on a stick.
Later Wool E. Bull came by to visit and the girls eagerly got in line to get his autograph. They adore Wool E. Bull—they've been talking about him ever since we went to that baseball game last summer.
We eventually gave up our place in line when we saw we were moving no where fast. We must've stood there for over an hour (with Andrew and I taking turns to shuttle the girls to this activity or that while the other stood in line) and the artist seriously did only two or three portraits the entire time. He was a relatively slow caricaturist.
The line for balloon art was no different. The artist wasn't popping out dogs and flowers and swords left and right to hand to the hordes of eager children. Instead the few lucky patrons got quality balloons.
Same thing with the face painting. No mass-produced daisies and rainbows but instead full on Spiderman masks or butterfly wings.
In all honesty, I think it would have been better to plaster a multitude of children with shoddy workmanship than to give a great treasure to a few.
Anyway, the craft booths were all over the place. They had a few simple crafts, involving toilet paper rolls and things like that, and Miriam and Rachel enjoyed making a few things before we left for the day. We were hot, hungry and tired.
Rachel has already completed 900 points—it's a point per minute read, plus ten points for writing a book review, as well as a few other ways to earn points—and she redeemed them today for her very own library bag and a battery-operated handheld fan (which will be wonderful for our trip). Miriam is accumulating her points a little slower (on a account of I won't sit read to her for three hours in a row) but I think we'll have a great summer of reading.
How did I miss reading this when you wrote it? Hmmm. I don't know. But I read it now! Getting in my Heissatopia fix, even with no new news.
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