Summer Reading

My previous blog posts have been way too serious, due to a pretty serious anniversary week.  I think it is time to lighten things up a bit with some summer fun pictures of the kids.

In the heat of the afternoon, we are enjoying some indoor reading time.

The kids are participating in a summer reading program at the public library, where they get a new prize each week for reading books and keep track of them on a card.

One week, they received stuffed puppies...

We are having fun visiting the library each week.  In addition to receiving a cool prize, the kids get to check out books.  2 books each.  

Jersey #2 and Jersey #3 have been reading every Arthur book the library has on its shelf.  They really like those stories and characters.  They enjoy them so much that they read the ones they checked out right away, and then read the ones their sibling checked out as well.

Recently, we visited a pizza place that is also running a reading program.  Theirs started in the Spring, and is almost over now.  But, we managed to take in the cards showing all the books read, and the kids picked up their prizes.  The prizes were all contained in a nice string backpack.  Their cousins were in town to participate in this reading program too.

The most recent day that I had planned to take the kids to the library, I was running around crazy-like trying to get all the library books gathered, and their reading charts gathered, and get everyone out the door and buckled in the van.  In the parking lot, I double checked that each child had their 2 books to return, and their reading card to show.  All was accounted for, so we started toward the library door.

And, then it dawned on me that I had forgotten MY BOOK!  I left my own library book at my bedside and forgot to bring it with me to return it.

The kids had a good laugh about that.  

There was a sweet lady walking by who overheard our conversation as I realized I forgot my book, and she could not contain her own laughter.  We made her day.

She later approached me in the library to encourage me.  She said that she also brought all of her kids to the library when they were young.  Now, they were all grown.  They all went to college.  They were all successful in their jobs.  And, they were all readers.  She said they developed a love for lifetime learning. She encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing with my own kids.  I thought that was sweet of her to speak such positive things to me like that.  

As she got me thinking about the kids and visits to the library, it dawned on me that the kids were much more excited about reading over this summer, than they had been during the school year.  I think I may be on to something here.  

They think they are getting a summer off from schoolwork.  

Actually, they are spending quite a lot of studious time, reading.