LIBRARY #1 - ISSAQUAH

On 8/5/11, after our lunch where we devised the RULES we hit our very first snag. There were teens, a whole band of them (literally) setting up lots of electrical cables and musical instruments right in front of the library!
This was crucial. Did we HAVE to have the library's SIGN in the picture? Or was it okay to just take a picture outside the library? LaDiva quickly decided it was okay just to snap a shot outside of the library. If you look REALLY closely you actually CAN see the sign off to the left. The kids were fascinated by the fish out front, and right up the road from the library is the fish hatchery, where the salmon spawn!.
KCLS has amazing art in their buildings. Now, when I'm back at our "home" library -Fairwood- I'm going to have to see if we have any art, because Issaquah, Bellevue & the service center have some amazing art, as you can see from the photos I'll be posting later!

The first thing that we saw was this self check in kiosk. LaDiva CLAIMS we have one at our Fairwood branch but I swear I've never seen it. Maybe I've just been taking our library for granted all this time. We had 20+ items to return and I had fun putting everything through the scanner on the little belt. Of course, it took me quite a while to get the hang of the thing and the kids got frustrated with my dorky slowness and very "momness" and went to the bathroom while I finished feeding everything through the machine!!

We went inside, wandering around the library and looked at books (of course!) The kids were a little upset that there was a "Teen Zone" (and it was very close to 3pm!) No teens were in the zone, however; just some middle-aged dude and his computer. I learned on the first day of our quest that LOTS of people bring their computers to the library! I left mine at home but was feeling a little out of the loop, I'll tell you!

Once we'd wandered around, peeked in meeting rooms and scoped out all the great seating spots, the kids settled in to read and I grabbed the latest issue of PEOPLE Magazine. Don't judge. How else am I going to keep up on JLo's divorce? I read magazines at the library a LOT! It is one of my favorite things to do while Little G is playing games on the computer or while LaDiva is looking for another story about a dog and a girl. Or a dog and a boy. She loves those dog stories!

After we'd read for awhile, I decided we might have time to catch another library. I scoped out the KCLS site on one of the handy-dandy computers they have in the library and looked up the address and directions to the Bellevue branch. We checked out and got on our way!

If I'm slow at the check IN, Little G is slow at the check OUT. One of our RULES is that we each have to use our library cards in each branch we visit. I'm fast, LaDiva is faster and Little G is so slow that the system times out and we have to re-scan his card nearly every time. I'm hoping his speed improves over time!

As we were walking back to the car, the kids spotted this groovy park. Naturally, we had to take a run around-and-jump-and-climb-and-swing-on-things break. No worries, I had a few books to read while Little G made friends instantly and suddenly was in a game of "Girls Chase the Boys" and LaDiva tried to master each piece of playground equipment. their favorite was this big spider web thingy!

Next, because I cannot seem to remove this double-posted picture, I'll explain it. It is a sculpture outside the library. A bird and a book. (A raven, perhaps? I didn't look closely.) LaDiva had to pose as if she were "reading" the book!

Next post, I'll explain how I further humiliated my children by stopping at the KCLS administrative offices on our way to Bellevue . . .