On of my favorite past-times, shared by many members of my family and my husband's, is reading. So, it should come as no surprise that hitting up the local library is a well-used tactic on my part to get out of the house with Sophie.
Luckily, our local library, the San Mateo Public Library, delivers treats beyond the obvious benefit of being around grown-ups during the day. The new library opened in August, and it's a beautiful building. The parking lot is well lit with spaces wide enough to lug a child out of a car set, and the interior space brings in lots of lovely natural light. There's plenty of room for reading, relaxing and surfing the net.
Wait, wait - I was writing that last sentence like an adult without a child. Let me re-state, there's a great kids section with toddler, family and baby storytimes occurring on a regular basis. Sophie loves to scoot-crawl on the ground chasing after kids just slightly bigger than her. She's not only fascinated with the puzzles (normal) but also with the grates on the floor (strange). There's also great diversity at the library so Sophie gets to meet and interact with people of all ages, ethnicities and walks of life.
To top it all off, as if the previous paragraphs weren't enough, the library holds regular Friends of the Library Book Sales. We stumbled into the one happening this weekend, and all I have to say...score! We walked out of there with probably 20 books for various family members for about $10.
Shout it out - The San Mateo Public Library rocks.
