Storytime

I picked up a copy of The Onion (which exists as a free newspaper in some cities in the US) and there was an advert for a new branch of Borders. There was to be a grand opening at 10am, and the first 100 kiddies there would get a free Nickolodeon goody bag, and there would be stories and the chance to be photographed with Curious George (I didn't know who Curious George was, but S said that the boys did know).

We drove to the mall, and arrived at 9:30, expecting to find hundreds of screaming American brats. In fact, we found no one. The security staff seemed to be having some sort of briefing in the outdoor food court area, and a couple of people were wandering about, but that was all. I walked optimistically up to the automatic doors and they stayed resolutely shut. We went to the toilet - A and D were excited by the automatic soap dispensers, and by then it was 10 to 10, so we carried on waiting. At 10, the doors opened, and the huge pile of American screaming brats that we expected comprised A and D, and a couple with a baby in a pram.

There seemed to be little fanfair when we went in, but we made our way over to the kids area (that's what they call it) and a very enthusiastic Borders person greeted us, and said that the story would start in 15 minutes. We could also go to the information desk to pick up our tickets, which we could exchange for gift bags at 11.

The stories, as promised, came. They were mostly by Mo Willems and were abotu a pigeon. They seemed to be pretty popular in America as most of the children knew them, and some knew the story ("You can help me with the big words" said the reader - I can't imagine a Borders staff member doing that in England.) A and D liked them, but the reader was a bit too enthusiastic - the shouting frightened them, and he read a bit too quickly. But he did read a lot of stories.

Then CG came, who is a monkey (well, in the books he is a monkey, in Borders he is a person in a monkey suit), and the boys dutifully lined up to have their photo taken.

Then we went for fat free frozen yogurt (ice cream? Not round here). I was offered baby size, for D, and foolishly selected "small". Which I would have called "Family sized" or similar. A wanted a smoothie, which was about a pint - he did make a valiant effort, drinking about half before eventually dropping it on the floor of the car.

I ate a salad, because ice cream places sell salad here. By the pound ($4.49 / lb). I also ended up eating a lot of frozen yogurt and smoothie.