The Austin Public Library’s Summer Reading Program, which includes Japanese drumming, musical performances, bug exhibits, hula dancing, puppet shows and more for kids ages five and up at locations around the city.

Free admission to the Austin Museum of Art with your library card through August. Today’s Family Saturday event allows you to make wearable creations with recycled materials.

The Summer Playground Program. This might be on the chopping block for next year’s budget, so enjoy it while it lasts!

Usually I leave the food posts to my friend, the Austin Frugal Foodie at Savor the Earth. But today the green beans at Whole Foods were just too magnificent to ignore. They were local, organic and on sale for $1.99 a pound — a veritable trifecta of awesomeness.

During the first class – just after the awesome instructor Nikki warned me to never sit down because I might pass out – this sensation was alarming. But now, during the I’m-already-hooked seventh class, it’s expected. In fact, it’s “chest pains so good.”

Besides, there’s an 80-something-year-old lady in the front row. If she won’t stop shaking her booty, then damn it, I won’t either.

But first, Mama’s bringing the kiddos to the magnificent Town Lake YMCA for some free-wearing-them-out and face-painting. Shazam!

Temperature:

Goal: Make small ones a miniature waterpark from discarded communal toys in the apartment’s courtyard.

Equipment:

One overturned kiddie pool

One Little Tikes climbing structure with slide

One box of nonreturnable Toy Library water toys

Major obstacle: My apartment’s scary ground faucet, which is housed in an insulated cylindrical container packed with dirt, leaves and critters. Some of these animals were still overwintering under the leaves, so reaching in there was akin to putting my hand in La Boca Della Verita.

Result: Hand was not bitten off! Pool was soon filled with floating grass and water wheels! Children were screaming, taking unauthorized sips of less-than-hygienic-water and pouring multiple buckets of it over their heads until their lips turned blue — and even then, they did not stop.

Reflections: I do not lie; summer has officially started.

you’re carrying this leaflet around with you for weeks pretending it’s a bookmark.

Big Girl has been lobbying for her own laptop for months. Then one day:

“I want a computer,” she says.

“No. No. No. A thousand times no,” we say.

“Well, can I borrow Daddy’s computer?” she asks.

“No. No. No. A thousand times no,” we say.

“But it’s just to look at,” she says.

“OK,” we say.

Hours pass. Big Girl is working on something.

“No peeking!” she yells from her room.

Eventually, she emerges with a miniature 3D model of my husband’s computer, drawn to scale. All keys have been meticulously copied, the logo replicated and the screen’s color captured in blue pastel.

“Now, I have my own computer,” she tells us triumphantly. “Her name’s Crystal.”

Soon, Big Girl is checking her email, ordering a ruby-and-diamond ring from the “Internet store” and watching a movie. It’s a grand time, but she is still wanting to make a deal:

“Daddy, your old one is broken. You can have this new one, and I will take yours.”

“No. No. No. A thousand times no.”

I know this is a bit late for an Easter posting, but an important reader insisted I share this exchange from a few weekends ago:

“You’ve got to get baskets,” my mother said with a worried frown, as I prepared for a small get-together. “It’s Easter.”

“Easter-shmeister,” I thought sullenly. I mean, hello? Twenty more dollars for fake wicker baskets and translucent Chinese grass? What about real grass from right outside my door? Honestly, it would have caused me physical pain to buy holiday-themed items before the actual holiday (they were going to be 75 percent off in a few days).

“It’ll be fine, Mom,” I said. “We’ve got lunch bags.” I pointed to the package of Randall’s  “Value Red” brand, whose bags are actually brown. My mother’s frown deepened, suggesting I had sunken to new lows.

In truth, I felt proud of myself. I had just organized Big Girl’s art supplies into jars. I had unearthed a stamp collection, paint brushes, some stickers and stencils. Husband and Big Girl had already dyed two dozen eggs. And I had borrowed a neighbor’s bag of empty plastic eggs, which I had filled with a couple of puzzle erasers and some chocolates in sparkly wrappers. I was reducing, reusing and RECYCLING.

Yet as good as my preparations were, it turns out we were both kind of right.

In my column: The children enjoyed decorating their lunch-sack Easter baskets. They glittered them. They stickered them. They stamped letters on them. For a full forty-five minutes, there was quiet, happy working going on in my home.

In my mother’s column: As Easter baskets, the bags were pretty wack. When a critical egg mass was attained, many got ripped, especially during the mad scramble. And after all the candy was consumed, most of these original art pieces were left crumpled up and tossed on the ground like dead carcasses along the highway.

Yeah, my mom may have been right. But at least I didn’t buy more unneeded stuff to clutter up our 850-square-foot apartment. That is, not until the post-holiday sale.

From: familyconnectionssupport@gmail.com

Dear Patrons and Supporters of FamilyConnections,

By now you may have heard the devastating news that the agency known as FamilyConnections is closing.  We are all shocked and saddened by this news, especially those of us who worked at FamilyConnections.  While we
mourn the loss of such a precious resource to our community, our staff has been amazed by the support provided to us by the children and families we have served for so many years.  It’s funny how things come full circle…

While there is nothing that can be done to save the agency known as FamilyConnections, rest assured that staff is working tirelessly to find homes for the programs the community so desperately needs.  If you’d like to express your concerns about the effect FamilyConnections’ closing will have on the communities’ children, families, and child care programs, and you would like to voice support for such services, you may contact the Austin City
Council via: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/contacts.htm.

The Family Place Library shut its doors officially on Tuesday, but still has many items checked out to its loyal library users.  If you still have materials on loan, please hold onto them and await further instructions on
how and when to return the materials.  Our library will not charge any overdue fines for materials still out and our online renewal system has been disabled.

Please check our website www.familyconnectionsonline.org for updates on any program transfers within the community.  We will do our best to keep it updated as long as the website remains up.  Feel free to forward this message to anyone else who is involved in the lives of our community’s children!

Take care and may your family be well!

Kind Regards,
FamilyConnections Staff

If you would like to help with support efforts on behalf of FamilyConnections, reply to this e-mail with the word “support” in the subject line.

If you wish to be removed from this contact list, please reply to the message with the word ‘Remove’ in the subject line.