Today we participated in the Tour
de KRL. With our Passports in hand we visited all the libraries in the
Kitsap Regional Library system. We left the house at 9 a.m. and headed to
Poulsbo first to pay a visit to
Sluys and get a pastry. Then we headed to
Bainbridge Island.
In the passports we were asked a question and we had to discover the answers while at the library. I decided we'd mark the occasion by taking a photo at each location! Here the kids found the window through which a rock protrudes. They built the window around it! Just outside the window you can barely see a glimpse of the Haiku Garden.
We walked through the Haiku Garden, reading the
haikus written on
marblesque tablets on the ground. They were written in either
Hiragana or
Katakana and English.
Onward to our second stop in Little Boston on the reservation. They had to find a whale! There were several throughout the library, too. While we were there Ethan spotted a national magazine with a photo of an Arab woman whose nose was missing and he asked about it. So, we read part of the article while we were there. She had been mutilated by the Taliban because she ran away from her husband and his family because they beat her and abused her. Of course, she was not believed. They tracked her down and while her husbands brothers and uncles held her down, he carved off her nose and ears. She was left for dead. US forces found her and she is in a shelter for other abused women like this. We didn't read the entire article. It was really getting to Evyn.
We then forged on to Kingston. Sadly, they were not open. We could hear voices inside and the sign read they opened at 1 p.m.! I had been so sure we had picked a day when they all opened at 10 and there was NO way I was going to just sit around and wait, NOR was I planning on returning. Amber knocked! One of the librarians opened the door and I apologized and she said it was no problem, and she stamped
everyone's books. We answered the question, which was about what natural landmark could be seen from their east window. The answer was Mount Rainier.
We then returned to
Poulsbo, where they kids had to find a little friend with whom to read! Here she is! We tried to return to the downtown area so we could eat lunch, but after driving around the parking lot a couple times, I called it quits and told the kids we could maybe find a spot in
Silverdale.
However, on the way we were passing Bangor, so I drove in Trigger Avenue gate and took the kids to the recreation area and we had an impromptu picnic. I had prepared sandwiches, brought leftover carrot and apple muffins, and a container of strawberries. Evyn finally had a chance to eat his goody from
Sluys, which he declared was his new favorite and he wanted another the next time he should return there.
After lunch we hit the next library on our list ...
Silverdale. The question was about what Russian Fairy Tale the mural had been taken from. It was from "
Finist the Falcon." They had a
laminated copy near the mural, so we had a small story time and read the entire story. It was pretty long. Ian's pointing to the feather which was a key element in the story.
Amber also discovered some interesting puppets in the
Silverdale children's section. At first she thought they were hats. Ian announced they were puppets, and we had to take a couple photos.
Then it was off to Sylvan Way. It is THE biggest library in the system and the headquarters for
KRL. It was huge. They had to find the "Dance in a Quiet Place" reference ... and so they struck a dancing pose for the photo.
Onward we drove to Downtown
Bremerton to find the King of this branch. Evyn located it on the outside of the building ... Martin Luther King, Jr.
We were finally done on that side of the pond and headed back to our stomping grounds and passed our library on the way to Manchester. They had to find the flying fish! This one holds a masquerade mask in front of it's face. This library started as a chicken coop! They have a stuffed chicken inside behind the desk as a reminder of their meager beginnings.
Last, but certainly not least, our beloved library. They had to decipher the nautical flags on the mailbox. The boys had it figured out before we had even left Port Orchard. It says, "READ!"
For their efforts, each of them earned a free library bag. It's big and roomy. Great for hauling loads of books ... or groceries! They also had their names put in for a drawing. We don't know for what ... but we each had our names put in.
And that is our Tour
de KRL adventure. We pulled into the driveway just after 4 p.m.! Phew! What a day! I was glad to be home at last (and our doggies were glad we were home, too!).
This is my personal take on the Olympic Reindeer Hat the American team was wearing during the Olympics. I had to modify it so there would be less of the stranded work peeking through the white, and I adapted the inside portion of the band to have a design and the name Bartlett knit into it. I had to do quite a bit of cut and paste with the pattern on the brim to make the pattern work its way around. The original has gaps for an American flag decal, which I chose not to try to locate and iron on. The reindeer I now call moose and I added hearts in their bodies and snowflakes in the design pattern. The decreases did not come out well at the top. The pattern was poorly written. I fudged. It's rather large, and I will be attempted to felt it to shrink it down a bit.
This was for a challenge in one of my Ravelry groups. I had to make something for flying class in house colors (Ravenclaw in my case). Yes, this is Harry Potter related. I chose a washcloth design called Lobby Dishcloth. It was fun to knit. Kept my mind occupied. It is all done as one piece.
My latest swap I received a shawlette made of this yarn and the other packages were wrapped with pieces of the yarn around each package. One of the items also included was the mini sock blocker with the bear cut into it. I decided to save the yarn pieces, wind them into a ball, and make a mini sock for the blocker. I knit up the sock today. I think it's cute.
This sock is part of my Wee Tiny Sock Club and it is called the Fireworks Sock. At the end they hold a photo contest. This is the photo I submitted. The sock beading is supposed to represent fireworks.
