What does the library, yogurt, a card, a kite, pizza, and an umbrella have in common?

Nothing! Other than the fact that they're all part of the holidays we've been celebrating over the last week.

February 5th: Take Your Child to the Library Day

We're lucky and live a block and a half away from the library so on warmer days, we can walk there. Middle's been there a handful of times, but none of which were during a time which he was aware of the library concept. So this visit is sorta like his "first" real trip to the library. We left Little home with Papa so that we could explore the children's section. As we arrived, Middle first noticed the Library's lion statue. The Library Lion was sculpted by Nancy-Carolyn Smith and is entitled "Where Shall We Travel Today?"

We were greeted by librarian Mary as soon as we walked into the section. Middle was a little hesitant at first to interact much, but Mary didn't give up. He was excited to see all the books on all the shelves. But what he was most excited to see was.....a train!

Made of 4 stools, this cute little train resides in the middle of the books. Middle insisted it was "broke" since the stools were apart, so Librarian Mary helped him move them back together.

Much better!

While Middle played on the train, Momma and Librarian Mary chatted about the different programs that the library puts on each month for kiddos. Then we talked about Middle's favorite kind of books. Of course, Middle wanted to find some Thomas books. Librarian Mary showed Momma a bunch of different options, but the best were these!

Really useful stories indeed! Momma has been working with Middle on being patient, taking turns, and sharing, especially with Little, so these were definitely the best to check out. Once we picked out our books, Librarian Mary asked Middle if he liked dinosaurs too. Of course, he said yes, and Librarian Mary told Middle since this was his first official visit, he got a special surprise! She let him pick out his favorite from 4 different dinosaur buttons. He immediately asked me to put it on his Thomas coat. With his shiny new button and two Thomas books in hand, we thanked Librarian Mary for all her help and went to check out our books.

The checkout system is very toddler friendly. Momma just had to scan the barcode on her library card and Middle just had to lay his books up on the base and like magic, the computer scans them and we're done! We've been reading our really useful stories at bedtime in addition to The Goodnight Train. We'll be going back soon to return our books and maybe even sit in on storytime!

February 6: National Frozen Yogurt Day

Started in 1993 by fro-yo pioneers TCBY to promote their product, National Frozen Yogurt day is a good day to enjoy the chilly treat. Middle loves ice cream and regular/greek yogurt so I didn't think he'd object to adding another tasty treat to his repertoire. We were a little busy with other errands, so I didn't get the opportunity to take him out to a froyo place, but we did get some take home. Papa found us some frozen Greek yogurt pops at the grocery store to enjoy for dessert after dinner. 

Papa also knows Momma loves caramel and sea salt snackys, so it was a great find. This particular box it seems has been through the wringer, though. We pulled out the individual pops expecting to see something similar to the box, but were confused when they didn't appear to have sticks. After I cut Middle's into easier to manage chunks, the sticks were actually inside!

Wonky appearance aside, Middle dug right in.

They had an almost coffee like taste, which made them that much tastier to Momma! I told Middle we'd make a stop to a real froyo place on one of our less busy days.

February 7: National Send a Card to a Friend Day

"We all have different types of friends. Some are like family and some are more aptly described as acquaintances. No matter how we describe them, they each play a role in our lives. National Send a Card to a Friend Day is your chance to tell them exactly what they mean to you and why."

Middle chose to make and send a card to his Gi-Gi. Momma sketched out the card and Middle decorated it with his crayons.

He even signed his name (with a little help from Momma)! We sent out the card in the mail that day and while it took a few days, Gi-Gi finaly received it. She put it up on her refrigerator and sent us a picture. Colin was very excited to see the picture on my phone and said "I did that!"

February 8: National Kite Flying Day

Middle and I made a dragon kite way back on January 14th for International Kite Day. We sent him flying around the toy room attached to the ceiling fan. In honor of the day today, we had hoped to get him outside and up in the air, but the weather was not our friend again. We did "fly" him around the house on a string (aka Middle drug him behind like a dog on a leash while running wildly from the front to the back of the house 😂). He did get a little lift, which was promising if we're ever able to get back outdoors any time soon!

February 9: National Pizza Day

This one's pretty straight forward...so for dinner, we had pizza! Middle is a fairly picky eater, except when it comes to pizza. I can get him to scarf down a supreme pizza without hesitation, but put those veggies in any other presentation and forget about it. While it's not the healthiest option, if it gets him to eat something besides corn for a veggie, Momma's in. While I didn't take any pictures tonight, I will share one of my favorite Middle eating pizza picture...

He was going through it that day 😂

February 10: National Umbrella Day

Fun Fact: “Scath fearthainne” is the Gaelic word for umbrella and translates to "rain shadow."

For today, we decided to try out the paint stamps he got in his set at Christmas by decorating a paper plate umbrella. We cut a paper plate in half and Middle started diving in.

He was actually enjoying stamping so much that I gave him an extra sheet of paper to paint on too. Once he finished and we dried the plates, he got to pick out two colors of pipe cleaners to twist together for our handle. Then we stapled the two plates together and attached the handle. Middle wanted his umbrella to hang up so that we could appreciate both sides, so we attached it to the pull string on the fan in the toy room. Now if it decides to rain inside, Middle's trains are protected!

Whew! That was a lot and we're still not caught up on blogs! New holidays coming soon!