Let me share my latest adventure with Myiah, my 8-year-old mentee through Big Brothers/Big Sisters. On Saturday evening, my husband and I picked Myiah up for dinner out and the obligatory detour to Whitey’s for post-dinner ice-cream. She makes a game out of picking a new flavor of ice-cream for dessert every time we visit from Whitey’s extensive list.
This trip, it was a “Golden Oldie”: bubblegum ice-cream. Myiah thinks she’s hit the jackpot whenever she places this particular order as she not only gets to enjoy the ice-cream, but has a huge mouthful of gum to chew and blow bubbles with afterwards!
Next stop was the Rock Island 30/31 Branch Library. This particular night, the branch was sponsoring a “Learn About the Solar System Night” for families. First stop was the “activity table” where she got to color pictures of the planets, do planet “word searches” and try her hand at planet-themed crossword puzzles.
Another neat activity was the collection of eight scales that were each calibrated to show the weight of an individual if they were on a particular planet like Mars or Jupiter. I kinda liked stepping on the “Moon” scale which showed I would weigh 10 lbs. there!
The highlight of the evening were the telescopes, especially the large mobile telescope that was mounted on a flatbed. My husband, Steve, Myiah and I were treated to spectacular views of the moon, Saturn and its rings and various other stars. Myiah didn’t want to leave! What a wonderful night!