I received what should be my last gifts of this holiday season…when we swung by the post office this morning to pick up a package. On Christmas Day I was given a Barnes and Noble gift card, and, in true geek fashion, used it immediately upon returning home that evening. I ordered two books I’ve been curious about…Craig Thompson’s Blankets and Sarah Vowell’s The Partly Cloudy Patriot. You can guess what sort of Saturday night excitement I’ll be having. Afterwards the little man got two more gifts as well. A lovely hand-knit hat and a Leappad, from the lovely ladies. Now we just need to get some more batteries for the latter (seems we never have enough around). Then it was on to the Walker Art Center for the second to last Free Family Day, before they shut the building down for a major rennovation. We enjoyed an animated short, courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art’s film library. It was a 1954 version of The Grasshopper and the Ant tale, done by Lotte Reiniger. Then there were some newer shorts from a series called Nonsense Poems and Lullabies…or something along those lines. They looked all bright and shiny, but some were downright dark in content, with a nearly Edward Gorey feel to them. No complaints here. We had a brief break to play in the arts and crafts room, but then it was back to the auditorium to watch the X-Treme Spinners Yo Yo Club doing their thing. I knew the little man would enjoy it, but hadn’t realized how over-the-top excited he would be. He could hardly sit down (and didn’t, much of the time), was constantly clapping his hands and cat-calling, and even started busting some serious dance moves when music from The Blues Brothers was on. After that raucous good time we were beat, and in need of nourishment. Our little group headed to Evergreen, of course, and had our fill. Which was good thinking as I needed to stop by United Noodles to stock up on a few things. If I’d gone on an empty stomach I would have spent much more than $11. I’ve long been tempted to take photos of a few items there…foods with cool packaging that are, unfortunately, not vegan-safe. But I’d feel like a big touristy dork whipping out my camera at a store that I frequent on a regular basis. I got my chance today as the place was so danged busy, no one noticed as I covertly snapped off a few shots of NoriNoriKids, while taking a picture of my own kid sitting in the grocery cart. Score.
