And They're Off

FINISHING TOUCHES: Job one today was making sure the kids put the the finishing touches on their books. They each had to do the cover for their books, which didn't take much time. Annabelle had to type and format all of her text, which took longer than I thought it would. Then we had to order 8x10 prints of each of their pages.

Interestingly (and coincidentally), they each wound up with 11 pages and 163 words. (We had to count the words for the PBS Kids Go book contest rules.)

I ordered a set of prints of each book from each Fred Meyer and Walgreens, not sure which ones would come out better (there is so much variance between places and their photo printing machines). Turns out Walgreens were much better color wise, so those are the ones we submitted. We kept the Fred Meyer set for our copy of the kids' books.

We brought the prints home and the kids each had to fill out official entry forms for the contest, and add stickers with page numbers to the back of each of their photos. Then we headed to Magnolia Post Office (one of my least favorite places on Earth) to mail the photos.

There is this one guy who works there that is beyond the pale. Everytime I'm in there it seems like it's a meltdown in progress of some kind, or something super socially awkward. Today, it was the latter. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out mailmen likely know LOTS about the people on their routes (who's late on bills, what their proclivities are based on magazine subscriptions and such). So today, while we and several other people were waiting, the Awkward, Angry Postman asked one of the post office box holders in line ahead of us, "So, what did you get a ticket for?" :0

The alleged law breaker was not exactly thrilled with that question in that setting. OMG, so, so awkward for everyone in that cramped post office lobby. Semi-amazingly, the Awkward, Angry Postman realized he had crossed a line and started stammering an awkward apology and saying that he asked only because he recently got a ticket and then he started railing against the system, the law, something about a Green Machine. ... Did I mention it was awkward?

The kids eventually got postage on their envelopes. Hopefully, they find their way to the right place (I always have my doubts when I mail anything from there).

Eventually I'll upload all the pages of their books and provide a link for those who are interested.

FUN AND GAMES: Once the work was out of the way, we were all about fun. It's the kids' spring break and though we aren't going anywhere, there's plenty of fun to be had here in Seattle!

We headed to yoga about 1.5 hours early so the kids could enjoy some quality time at Full Tilt.
The kids enjoyed some awesome ice cream and played pinball and arcade games. They spent a lot of time working together on Double Dragon.
They were very proud that, by working together, they reached Level 19. (I'm not sure how many levels the game has, but they gave it a good run!)