saturday funday

i have a million and one things to do before vbs starts on monday but these two boys were signed up for a "beach party" at the library this morning. they were pretty excited to be the only ones in the age group for the party from our family. and all of the kids LOVE these library parties.

after listening to some books about the beach and a flannel board story about a seagull, the boys jumped into the crafts. but there weren't terribly age appropriate (the cutting was way too detailed for 3-6 year olds).

i cut the legs and claws, but he did really well with the rest.

the boys, very generously, offered to let me use their sea critters for vbs decorations. they also made some paper tube octopuses and paper plane-like seagull. we took the toilet paper tube lobster supplies home. mommy didn't have enough time for the cutting.

the boys were given little stuffed animal crabs and fruit snacks to take home. and then we were off to pick-up the rest of our crew for another free kids' event today - a visit with bob and larry.

they had fun with a scavenger hunt around the store before enjoying lots of snacks and drinks. manning and madelyn were the only ones brave enough to take a picture with them.

of course, tattoos were a different story...

mason and i dropped off the rest of the family and then went to a birthday party for one of his kindergarten classmates. all of the kids were given a cute little sundae bowl to take home (after enjoying an impressive sundae spread).

her mom was kind enough to send a sundae bowl home for each of our kids! and they were very, very excited at the possibility of ice cream. now when to use them... love.

manning's day at the museum

we might have had a super late night, but the kids were energized and ready to go in the morning! they started the day with a little bed-leaping high-fives.

i took the time we had while daddy took a load of blankets and pillows to the car to get a picture of mason's swag from the game and a picture with the birthday boy (i missed my shot yesterday).

one of the reasons we were planning to go to pittsburgh was to take manning to the new daniel tiger exhibit at the children's museum. they were just excited to be there and didn't know about the exhibit until we found it.

the kids love this place! specifically the water floor. so we went there first on this trip thinking that they could dry during the rest of our visit (see yesterday's post about having forgotten madelyn's bathing suit).

thankfully there are blowdryers. although maddux was so soaked that he was beyond help. he had a great time though!

hiding in the 'grass.'

the fabric was on a turning table to work like a kaleidoscope on the wall.

and then we found the main attraction! it is difficult to say which of the kids were most excited to see it. the exhibit was wonderfully done and very true to the show. we all had a lot of fun playing here.

madelyn added a leaf to the thank-you tree - "thank you, family."

the make believe mirror. it is framed in star lights that turn on and sparkle when you stand on the star rug just like daniel on the show. manning thought it was pretty great.

i love his eyes in this one!

then manning decided that he wanted some time behind the camera...

there was too much to see and do for a good pose with the characters.

notice pouty manning in the corner.

by manning

the kids could have stayed longer, but agreed to move on to the "garage."

using a pulley to send parachutes up to maddux on the platform above him.

we saved for last madelyn's favorite part - the crafting exhibits - for last. the little boys played with clocks and building activities while madelyn sewed. today, she was working on a purse and wallet (envelop style).

while madelyn was STILL sewing, the boys spent some time in the 'ant wall' and playing with circuits. they even got to help with some soldering.

at least an hour later, madelyn finally finished her small wallet. we were able to talk her into finishing the purse at home.

and then we all moved over to the art room. the kids love the screen printing. manning had a little help from me to speed things along since he wanted to make their example dinosaur piece.

some "backyard" fun before ending our visit.

we just love this place! thanks for another great visit, children's museum of pittsburgh.

the last part of our trip to pittsburgh was a trip to ikea for madelyn's birthday presents - a desk, towels, storage and artwork for her room. we ate our late lunch/dinner at ikea too including some yummy vegan swedish meatballs (the smother them in baked beans too - weird but very tasty!).  daddy did an amazing job fitting our purchases into the back of the van. all around a wonderful closing celebration of our birthday week! love.