The Thinkery

We've been busy busy and doing lots of fun activities!  After my Mother's Day flop with the Children's Museum, I was determined to make it happen and today we did!

This place is incredible. Perfectly designed for kids of lots of different ages to explore, experiment and have fun.  On Monday they are only open to kids 0-3 from 9-12 and so we were brave and skipped morning naps to make it there (which we paid for later... but it was worth it!).  We started upstairs in the area especially for young children and they had a big area with gymnastics mats, big foam balls, etc and then on to a really amazing play area.

Julia was dancing to the music - Erin was looking at her like she was crazy (or maybe Erin was just jealous of her moves!)

Climbing up the sandbag hill!

Sitting in a mirror triangle - I love how you can see Julia's reflection too.

Me and sweet baby J

Hiding from Daddy under a big balloon tent

Erin explored the area more than Halle and is certainly the braver of the two.

We were able to get there right at 9am (go us!) when it opened, so the area was pretty empty except for our family and a few other kids.  It was really nice.  Especially nice not to have to worry about big kids running the babies down.

The little kids area also had a farm to market to kitchen area where the kids could gather eggs from the chicken coop, shop in the bins for food and then cook the food at the play kitchen.  Lia totally grooved on this concept especially with all the cooking training she has had in the new play kitchen we have!  Julia liked the chicken coop the most and I'm pretty sure Erin and Halle were trying to find which of the foods on display were real as they were tasting them all.

From there we moved on to the highlight of the day - the water room!  This area was set up so that the water would play music and have drops that fall from the ceiling on to floating drums in the water and then all the levers and wheels would make music too.  Lia looked so cute in the little smock they provide and Julia wanted nothing to do with it (plus, she was too little to walk in it!).  Julia, Erin and Halle pretty much just drenched themselves and Elizabeth resorted to drying Julia's clothes in the hand dryer (silly Italian...).  Erin required a costume change after this activity because she was soaked through!  

The water drums

dipping and drinking the water - so silly

Water wall

This thing was really cool because as you turn the lever it fills up a bucket of water at the top and eventually dumps the water down causing a big splash.  Todd tried to get a picture of the big splash, but Lia ran away every time.

Julia's fav thing of the water room - filling and stacking bowls

This thing was really neat - when you block the water it makes a sound like a windpipe and the binder in front has music to play different songs.

This may have been Halle's favorite thing

We took a potty pit stop and had a quick snack and we were off to the outside playground!  Lia was in heaven - just take a look at this thing!  Todd and I were having a blast too - climbing after Lia up the cargo nets and up to the top lookout.  Pretty cool

I can't explain Halle's silly frown face - she had a blast

Playing chase with Daddy through the tunnels

The downstairs area is geared mostly for older kids, but for this special program for kids 0-3, they had some other activities out and ready for the younger kids to enjoy.  The best part was that they had a center area for the very young kids to hang out while the older ones played.  Halle loved this area and moved here way around the wall exploring every item there was to touch, feel and turn.  Erin pretty much stared at the other kids and smiled at their parents in her normal Erin-charm way.  Lia and Julia were off testing out all the fun things in the big kid area.

Peek-a-boo Auntie!

Painting on a glass wall

"So, what does this taste like??"

Magnetic blocks

Erin peeking out of the baby area

Todd and Erin in the shadow room

Julia worked hard and did well putting these pegs in this board - she may have some engineering blood in her...  heh

Ended the day with a giant lite bright!

Overall, this was an amazing morning and I will definitely be returning.  I also think it is safe to say that while Halle is not so much an animal lover, she loves to study and explore - this was right up her alley.  I think this is a place that will just keep giving back as the kids get older because there will be more intricate activities we can partake in.  But, for today, I was overjoyed that my three kids under three (plus Julia - so four under three) enjoyed the time and weren't trapped in the stroller the whole time.  It was awesome.