I got a surprise text at 9am this morning from our awesome Nana asking if she could come get Gabriella and Mikey for a fun day out! I know, she's pretty amazing right?! Daddy was already off to work on this beautiful Saturday so I asked if little Josiah and I could tag along and of course she was more than happy to say yes! We quickly threw some clothes on and packed the diaper bag (which is almost as big as our house) with extra of everything for everyone. I was running around the house like a mad woman, haha!
The last time Nana came to take the kids for a fun day out they went to Monkey Joe's and oh, did the kids have a blast! Little did we know Nana's plans this time involved taking them to the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh!!! Ahhhh how exciting?!?! I told you she's amazing!
We got all five of the car seats and kiddos strapped in and with smiles on everyone's faces we headed out!
Well actually, I should mention a smile on everyone's face but Josiah's. He was not a happy camper (at first). He didn't handle having a perfect view of mommy sitting in the passenger seat and not being in my arms very well at all. He cried and cried and cried. Nothing; drinks, snacks, hand holds, sweet whispers, comforting hushes...was working.
Then it finally hit me! I whispered a prayer as I dug waaaaayy down to the bottom of the diaper bag in hopes that a sucker would magically appear. I promise I don't regularly give him suckers but Gabriella, Mikey and I know he feens over them when he see them enjoying one. Why wouldn't he right? They look like so much fun! I just knew it would help turn that frown upside down. But...I couldn't find one. Of course out of everything I have in that diaper bag I wouldn't have a sucker for such emergencies. Nana, though, saved the day with a quick stop at a gas station.
Happy Josiah! (and happy, happy mommy! I can't stand to hear my baby cry.)
I wish I would have taken a picture of the four other passengers who were very pleased with the solution to pacifying Josiah...they, too, with a big ol' sucker in hand were happy, happy, happy!
When we arrived we got right to work playing!
Exploring in the Scientific Exploratory...
Oh the Pirate Ship! What fun it was! Three levels to that thing, how cool! Isn't Captain Nathan just the cutest?!? He had no problem safely steering us to our destination.
Nathan really is quite the driver, too!
The ambulance and the helicopter...
The water table! I admit, this made me a bit nervous. A water station in the middle of a children's muesum??? Do they not know how children function? (Haha!) Anytime my littles approach water that's meant to be played with they do not come away dry. I must say, though, that all of the children enjoyed the water and played with it so respectfully. Whew, what a relief! :)
Shooting hoops with Elias and Mikey...
Gabriella called this section the "acrobat area". :)
Gabriella informed me later in the evening that the acrobat area was her favorite! I wish I could have gotten more picture of her enjoying it. I'll be sure to do so next time.
Hockey with Eli and Mikey! They both really, really enjoyed this one. I loved hearing Eli's excited giggle every time someone would shoot a puck his way. After being at the museum for about an hour already this was also the first activity that Mikey allowed more than a two feet distance between him and I.
The star on the ice, however, was this cute lil guy! Oh my goodness was he cute! He was thrilled about holding that hockey stick in his hands and tried his very best to move that puck around. He was so very happy and not worried a bit about all the big kids around him. Absolutely adorable!
We more than likely spent the longest amount of time here at the jumbo Lego building area. (Is there any way I can have a room in my house that looks just like this?) :)
Right away all four of them got to work building towers. They each built their own tower as tall as their little arms would allow them to reach then knock it down and start all over again.
Since they probably would have been completely content with building and knocking over their individual towers the entire time, Nana and I decided we'd suggest a cooperative building project. I hate that this picture is so blurry but here it is, their castle...or maybe it was a fort...or maybe a house...mmmm I'm not sure what they finally decided on calling it but it was really cool. It was so fun to watch them work together on a project. I'm sure it was also a lot of fun for them to watch mommy and Nana fetch all of their Legos. Haha!
The last place we visited in the museum was the Moneypalooza exhibit. This, by far, was Mikey's favorite. Where before he was really concerned with me staying as close to him as possible, here I'm sure he wouldn't have noticed if I had completely vanished. It was a joy to watch him run and play so freely.
Thank God Nana and I were able to tag team in this incredible area. I supervised their gathering and filling of buckets with balls (the money) then sent them up the spiral staircase where Nana awaited them. She assist them in depositing their money into the piggy bank then sent them down the twisted tunnel slide where I'd meet them to do it all over again. Needless to say, I didn't get any pictures of this awesome area. All of my hands, eyes, ears, fingers and toes were needed to keep track of the four exited little ones running about. Here's the picture from on-line of what what the exhibit looks like.
Our spontaneous day of fun at the Marbles Kids Museum was beyond exciting! The kids enjoyed every last minute and I loved getting to spend some quality time with Nana.
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