Book Nerds

We took the girls to their first public library outing on Friday.  We have frequented
the library at Isabelle's school weekly since she first started attending preschool, but this
was our first visit to the big and exciting public library in our little town.  Isabelle was
ecstatic, this trip was on our summer bucket list and she has been asking me every day
if today was the day we got to search through the stacks for new books.  She had her
library card with her freshly penned signature scrawled neatly on the back all ready to
go.  She even had a pep talk with her baby sister about library etiquette,
encouraging her to "not cry too loud" or "spit up on the books".

We wandered through the stacks, looking through the shelves that seemed to stretch
on forever with books of every kind, picking out treasures from the travel section,
books about exotic animals, mysteries and childrens' classics.  I love the smell of books
more than anything.  I love finding the oldest, wrinkliest, leather bound copy and
carefully flipping through the pages, imagining all the other people who have done the
exact same thing.  I could get lost in the library for a very long time.

After we had weighed our arms down with enough books to supply a small school, we
settled down at a table near a window, quietly reading to ourselves and sharing little
snippets with each other.  Brees enjoyed listening to us read aloud and rested sleepily
on my shoulder.

I had a complete geek out moment when I stumbled upon the entire Babysitter's
Club collection, my entire pre-teen era flashing right before my eyes!  Oh, how I loved
these books so much!  I read every single one, hiding under my covers at night with a
flash light, getting lost in the world of these girls and their babysitting adventures.  And
now, here I am: a 30 something, college educated woman, squealing in excitement in
the middle of the library with my two kids, over a book about pre-teens.
A nerd I will always be!

It was a fantastic day and we can't wait to go back.  Shawn and I are both avid readers
and hope that our daughters will follow suit.  What better way to spend a summer
afternoon than getting lost in a sea of bookshelves, transporting yourself to another world
via fiction?  That's if you don't mind being embarrassed by your mother reliving her
12 year old self:)