Friday we kept Rene home from school because she definitely had a cold. She wasn't feeling that bad, but I figured she was contagious. Then Saturday, Corrina woke up with a cold. She didn't seem to be feeling too bad so I gave her some Sudafed and we headed out to Beginning with Books Storywalk - over by the Blue Slide park (Tony kept Hank at home). Here's more info about the Storywalk. They had readings of six children's books along the trail, with a set and props for each book, and the readings were interactive. Between each book set there were tables for doing related crafts. At the end you got one of the books for free. After a few books Corrina looked like she was going to fall asleep (I think the Sudafed more than the cold), so we called Tony and he picked her up. Rene and I really enjoyed ourselves. Rene listened to each book at least two times. We saw a LOT of friends from school and neighborhood. I am very proud that of all her friends Rene was by far the most interested in listening to the books - her friends couldn't sit still, weren't really listening to the books, and didn't interact with the storytellers. Rene was eager to hear each book and was an active participant with the storytellers. She had a great time. We already had three of the books (the Very Hungry Caterpillar, What Shall We Do With The Boo-Hoo Baby, Over in the Meadow), and were familiar with a fourth book from the library (Abiyoyo - which we chose as our free book). Two books were new to us (Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash, So Much). Rene loved Mrs. McNosh, who is very silly and hangs up everything on the clothesline, including her telephone, her mail, her garbage can, and even herself, and wants us to get that book too.

Today, Rene and Corrina had their first swimming lessons of the semester. They take lessons at the indoor pool at Pitt. This was Corrina's first lesson since they start at age 3. Rene's friend Jimmy Henderson takes lessons with her (Jimmy's parents Cindy and Rich are Hank's godparents). This afternoon we went to a brand new toy library with Jimmy. It's in what used to be a grocery store - so it's a big wide open space. (It's near Edgewood Towne Center, where Kmart is - just on the other side of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel). They have all sorts of play areas - grocery store, kitchen, blocks, ride-on toys, slides, ball pit, computer games, library, dress-up area, etc. We got a membership since it will be a nice place to go in the winter. We've been a member at our old toy library for several years, but it is not as nice as this new toy library. Also the old library was only open in the mornings - the new library is open all day, which works much better now that I have a child in school every morning. On the way back from the toy library we got stuck in traffic - we didn't move for 40 minutes (right before entering the tunnel). I finally called Tony to tell him where we were, and within minutes of hanging up traffic started moving, and it appears there was a wreck either inside or just beyond the tunnel. The girls did great and were able to keep themselves entertained the whole wait.