A fun day at a new museum

New to us anyways! There used to be this little kids indoor play spot called "PlaySpace". I suppose it got a lot of use as they moved to a larger building. They were there for quite a few years before they moved again, into a very LARGE building. They now have two stories and a ton more displays. For those of you up north, it's a lot like the kids museum there. The difference is that the museum in NY has much more intricate displays. The one here has more space and probably a few more things to do, but not as intricate. The one in NY has a very cool pretend grocery store to shop at. It has isles, and a few cash registers with 'working' machines. The one here has a little grocery store, more in the open, with one pretend toy cash register. Never the less the kids loved it! We had a lot of fun as well. Take a look at what they did.

Jedidiah couldn't pass up the opportunity for a spin (the car does not actually move). I was surprised by how patient he was while waiting for his turn at the wheel.

Jonah really loved the bead play. He's the only one of the six that loves to play with these types of toys. Jedidiah comes in second, the girls were never interested in them....at all.

This one is blurry, but it was too funny to pass up. Jed got this lovely steal of a deal at the pretend grocers and carried it around playing with it. He didn't seem to get the shopping theme. Another one of those "Jed moments". Jonah, on the other hand, got himself a cart and started putting in the groceries. He even went out and shared his purchases with other people!

They had this neat little 'tree house' set up with a bunch of play houses. Jed seemed to enjoy these.

This museum has a play ambulance, and nursing station set up. Here the girls are examining some x-rays.

They also have a water play area. This area is smaller than their last place. The kids didn't know this :-) They loved it! The water was freezing though! I was surprised at how long they played in it.

Jonah and Jed love to pull up chairs to our sink to make a mess...er I mean, to help with the dishes. Jonah was fascinated to be able to walk right up and splash in.

Jed playing with some boats.

Flannery and a funnel.

Jonah at a command station. Behind the water play they have this neat room with a fish theme to play around in. Outside of that room is a pretend submarine, and a pirate ship. Jonah first took command at the sub.

Then he was off to take command of the pirate ship. This was a neat ship, with three levels. It was a bit chaotic since school is out due to winter break. We are hoping to go back on a less busy day.

They have a traveling display on the second level....Mr. Potato Head Goes Exploring. Seriously, it was really neat. Here's Jonah going down a slide.

You get to pretend you are on an archaeological dig. They had a bunch of black chips, for dirt I suppose, that you would put on a conveyor to look for treasures. The girls spent a lot of time there.

Flannery getting ready to put her dirt on the belt.

Isabella and Jed going down the slide. It was great because the stairs were easy to navigate so that even Jonah could climb up by himself.

What's a Mr. Potato Head exhibit without the main potato himself! Jed LOVES Mr. Potato Head. He was head over heals about this exhibit.

The easy climb stairs that I was talking about earlier.

Jed and Jonah in command central of a space ship. Jeremiah made up a very, VERY funny spoof dialog for this photo. I don't think he saved it though. I'll have to look because it was too funny.

They had these enormous legos/building bricks. The girls went goo-goo over them once they saw their potential.

After a while Jed decided to check out the 'build-a-car'. After building a car you could then challenge other kids to a car race on this declining race track. The other children did not appreciate Jonah's help....as he would wait at the bottom of the track to collect cars to keep for himself :-) Silly boy!

Here are the girls at the start of their project. They decided to make a house. You can see the large structure on the left of Jed.

You can see that they added a window to their house. I took the two boys downstairs to the train play area while they continued to work on their masterpiece. They tried putting a roof on, but it caved in. Bummer. They have plans for another model for the next time we go back.

Here is Jonah at the train play. They have three train tables, that are connected. The boys spent a lot of time here. The girls eventually came down from their house building and went on to the stage area to put on a play. Isabella was a natural at directing!!! She had given everyone roles, and told them what they were to do/say. They spent most of the time planning and directing. It got to be closing time, so they quickly did their play. I was running after a boy and didn't get to see the final outcome. I heard though that it was a hit :-)

Jeremiah took the girls to Bible study tonight while I stayed home with the boys. I woke up sick and it seems to be a bit more than a simple cold (nothing serious, but more than the sniffles). I downloaded a couple of photo editing softwares to try out. We downloaded GIMP the other day, and I suppose if it came with a written manual that it would be the size of a book. At least that was my first impression. I've downloaded Photoscape and Adobe's Beta version of Lightroom 3. I like what I see in Lightroom so far. I am excited to give them more time to try them out. So far as far as ease is concered Picnik is the tool. With Lightroom you have more control over the editing as far as colors and exposure. It doesn't have any of the special effects that can be done at a push of a button like Picnik. They each have their strengths. I can't wait to dive in and give it more time to learn how each works.

Everyone is home now. Need to go.