Growing with the library

Ashley and I just returned from our first Pajama Story Time at Ballard library. Pamela holds this once a month from 6:45 to 7:30pm. It was our first time to attend and my plan is that I will take Ashley each month. We listened to stories about growing vegetables and then had the opportunity to grow our own beans by placing the seeds in a clear plastic cup with moistened paper towel. Ashley is excited at the idea of keeping the paper towel moist and checking to see when they’ll start growing (which should be by Sunday). Then we’ll plant the little bean plants in her garden and she has agreed to share some with Caitlin so that Caitlin can put them in her own little garden too. Caitlin was very disappointed tonight when she realized she wasn’t going with us. She cried forlornly and even requested that she and Ashley pick a number to see who could go (sometimes when we are at a stalemate for deciding something we’ll think of a number and have the girls choose a number they think is closest. They very happily abide by the results of this system.) She was very sad but, in the end, was comforted by the plan that James would take her to bed and stay with her until she fell asleep (a treat that the girls adore every now and then).

Ashley was so pleased with our evening out tonight. On the way to the library she pointed out that I get to spend a lot of time alone with Caitlin when she’s at school and that she and I don’t get a chance to be alone very much. We had a little time before story time tonight and Ashley requested that we visit Ballard Commons Park across the road from the library. The water feature was turned on (water fountains that spurt out of artistic shell shaped concrete). We watched the fountains for a bit and then Ashley discovered a little watering can that someone had left behind. She filled it with water a few times and watered some plants in the park. Then we spent about 10 minutes watching the skateboarders at the skate bowl in the park. This was very thrilling for both of us as there were a lot of skateboarders there this evening with the mild weather.

I had originally made the decision to go to the Pajama Story Time with Ashley once she starts Kindergarten. Then James and I decided that we would increase the number of mornings she spends at pre-school this summer so that she will get used to going every morning. When she starts Kindergarten she will be there afternoons too. We thought this might be a good way to ease her in. When we were deciding if we should send her 4 days or 5 days we decided to ask her which she would prefer. We’ve been attending the weekly morning story time at the library for about 2 years now and we wanted to give her the choice of continuing at the library for the summer. When we asked her she thought about it for a couple of minutes and then concluded that she would prefer to go to school but she would like Caitlin to choose a book for her after story time. So James and I took Caitlin to her first story time without Ashley last week. It was a nice bonus to have James along and Caitlin enjoyed taking turns sitting in our laps on the floor. True to her word, Caitlin chose a book for Ashley at the end of story time. Afterwards we walked to the nearby Great Harvest Bread Company for a delicious soup and sandwich lunch before collecting Ashley from school. Tonight Ashley returned the favor and chose a book about growing vegetables for Caitlin, who, I am sure, will appreciate it in the morning when she wakes up.