no snow? road trip!

no snow, a clear forecast, winter break and, by luck, school isn't out in pittsburgh yet - road trip to the pittsburgh children's museum! i decided this last night. we have an annual membership (it is only like $25 more than a one time visit for our whole family) and we had no real plans for the break.

the kids and i sent daddy a picture that we had arrived safely. they were super excited with this surprise! we more or less had the place to ourselves! there was one preschool field trip and then just moms with kids too young for school. it was the perfect day to go.

maddux got tired of the art projects and went to read some art books instead.

madelyn had fun with the clay technique of the day - coiling.

after more than an hour in the art room, we went to have some lunch. in the cafe there is a photo booth that projects on the wall above the kitchen. last time it was broken and the kids were thrilled to have their pictures show up today.

a 'santa' stopped in for some lunch too. all of the kids in the room were pretty awed.

bathroom growling while we waited for everyone to be done:

we went to a part of the museum we haven't visited on previous trips - the theater. there was an interactive light exhibit on the stage. the kids could move the letters around, wear them around their necks and turn them off and on. (we learned that there is typically a mr. rodgers castle on the stage.)

they would have stayed a lot longer but we needed to get moving if they wanted to see their other favorites before we had to leave.

next the big kids worked on sewing quilts. they were given instruction on threading, knotting and sewing techniques after selecting their fabrics.

madelyn sewed for 45 minutes before the little boys were done with the surrounding exhibits and i had to talk her into moving on.

there was another new to us exhibit on viet nam.

can you find our family pictures?

and now for the part they talk about between visits - the water floor! we had to go inside to find some snow to play with this year.

manning was getting tired and decided standing in a bucket was the way to go.

 maddux and mason were quite the pair of builders. see their arching sprayers behind them?

and one more climb through the 'ant wall' on our way out. the museum was closing or i would never have gotten them out of there! they love it.

we missed having daddy with us, but the kids had a wonderful first day of winter break! love.