Books...and zombies

For those of you who have been following along with this blog for a while now, you probably found yourself wondering, "Isn't it almost time for Bingham Book Day?" Well, you are right. It is.

If you are wondering, Bingham Book Day is a holiday we invented as an excuse to buy new books. We celebrate on May 5th, because it is easy to remember (the first several years of your marriage we could never remember which day was BBD) and because we are not Mexican and we don't drink margaritas. (Or spell margaritas...is that possibly correct?) Every year, we go to the book store, everyone gets to get WHATEVER book they want (even if it is annoying) and then we go to lunch. Last year was a lovely adventure, riding Portland's light rail to Powell's Books downtown and eating in the city. This year, since we (read: Amy) are moments away from giving birth and we know the local geography a little better, we went to the Powell's books that is 10 min from our house, and next to a 5 Guys. Clever.

It was so PAINFUL for the children to have to stand on those posts for a picture. There was much whining and yelling.

After the shopping, however, there was much sitting on benches and reading...Nice.

Then off to 5 Guys. Have you been here? If you answered "No" then what is wrong with you? In and Out can suck it, if you ask me. Their fries taste like fried paper. 5 Guys fries are the stuff that dreams are made of.

The waiting is the toughest part...but it is so worth it.

Doesn't that look good? And mind you, that is about 2/3rds of the fries. They dump an extra scoop in your bag. And they are toasty and crispy and have lost of those little overcooked fry bits in the bag. They're delightful. Possibly even de-Randolph.

Here is what we scored:
Amy got

Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs. A little light hearted and trashy, perhaps, but are you really going to read Anna Karenina from your hospital bed?

For me:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, because I love me some Zombies. His next book is going to be called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer. I love this man. I fell like this will really flesh out (no pun intended) my zombie apocalypse survival skills.

For Jonah:

and

Some surprisingly literary choices. Every year so far Jonah has picked some picture dictionary about trucks or dinosaurs. So these choices I like. We can actually read these at bedtime, which you cannot do with a picture dictionary. If you come to my house around story time, you will likely hear me yelling across the house "No picture dictionaries!" as the kids run to their rooms to choose books.

Noel, on the other hand:

and

I thought we owned every I Spy book on God's green earth, but no. We do not yet have I Spy: Little Bunnies until today. Swing is one of those animated books that I have to restrain myself from cutting apart to see how it works. And yes, I did say that everyone gets one book, but when your kids are begging for two books, can you really say "No?"

And for little Lila

which we apparently do not own. Crazy, I know. And no, she is not born yet. But wouldn't you be mad if you were just born and you found you had missed the book buying holiday by a week? Not fair.

Here's all the loot together:

The strawberries are from the Beaverton Farmer's market and the bread is Caramel Apple Bread from Bungalow Bread, also at the Beaverton Farmer's market. They were not farmer's. Just bread makers, but they let them in anyway, and thank goodness that they did.

Happy Book Day!