morning out

tuesday morning i decided to take the kids to the children's museum. we got an annual pass the last time we went because the admission of that visit went towards an annual pass. we thought that it would be a nice inside destination as an alternative to the zoo. it is a longer drive but i think that it is worth it for a few hours of fun.

they had a new business in the play town and madelyn spent a long time there. "the animal hospital" is small but impressive with a microscope with real slides, a wide variety of animals to examine, and a computer to research the illnesses/animals. we got there shortly after it opened so she had the place to herself for a while. until the school groups arrived! there were more than one and they were all way over excited to be there. madelyn got overwhelmed a few times. and i had to play things down so that she wouldn't be too scared. the kids were out of control and much older than madelyn - and running everywhere.

kids were jumping in front of her when it was her turn, snatching things out of her hands, and generally acting poorly. madelyn handled it all very well. she would get a little pouty and try to find me for eye contact, but she did not act rudely towards the kids. and i was proud of her for that self-control.

at one point madelyn had climbed up a platform to drop a golf ball down a ramp and then at least five or six other kids swarmed her and she couldn't get down and couldn't see me. i had seen one of the girls just start stroking her hair as madelyn got shoved back into the corner. i was going to give it one minute before i went up there to get her (i think that it is good for her to choose how to handle dealings with other kids). she was able to get back to the stairs and came down telling me, "that girl touched my hair!" while i thought that it was inappropriate for the girl to touch her hair without saying anything to her, i tried to tell madelyn that the girl just thought that her hair was pretty. and then asked if she saw the girl's braids with beads. it was just an awkward situation but she seemed to bounce right back from it and move on.


we took a break from the older kids in the '3 and under' section of the museum so mason could stretch his legs a little. he didn't have much interest in any of it the last time we went but this time was totally different! he was everywhere and tried everything. it was actually hard to get he and madelyn to move on to another area.

mason was kind of funny trying to figure out the 'spike' texture on the railings in this video. plus, you can see how he squats on his knees often.

and here mason is 'sliding' for the first time. i don't think he really understood what was happening.

after the toddler/baby section we went back to the little town where things had quieted down a little because madelyn wanted to go 'shop' in the grocery store part. a little girl, maybe 6, came up and asked if she could push mason around in the stroller. i told her that he was just going to stay with us, but thank you for asking. madelyn and i finished what we were doing and started walking again with mason. the little girl came back over and said that "he is very handsome". it just struck me as funny that she felt so compelled to come back over and that she would use a word like "handsome" instead of "cute.


we got another break from the school groups in the arts and crafts area because they weren't allowed in there either. madelyn and i had fun making flowers on popsicle sticks. our last stop was in the temporary fitness exhibit. here is madelyn trying to figure out the dancing game (as she dances it moves the ball conveyor belt to the right so that they can roll down the ramps in front of her). i like how she just gives up on following the lights at the end. love.