Children's Museum with the Little Guys

Tavin is about to join the ranks of the "Big Boys" all the time with the arrival of a littler one to join Penn in the "Little Guys" camp, but until Baby Boy #4 arrives, Tav can still flip and flop between the Big Boys and the Little Guys.  Yesterday, Tavin loved hanging with his little bro, Penn, at the Children's Museum.  We had a few free passes that I've been needing to use up before baby arrived and when my friend Stephanie and her son, Lincoln, wanted to hang out for the day, I figured this was the perfect opportunity.  Turns out I was right!  FYI: go to a museum the day after MLK Day.  No one does field trips the day after a Monday off from school!  It was so quiet and chill.  Perfect for the boys to take advantage of whatever they wanted to without fighting crowds and perfect for Steph and I to just enjoy watching them play while chatting away.  Here's a photo overview...

Tavin remembered other visits to the museum, so he requested to go straight to the "garage" area where there is a Smart car for the kids to drive.  On the way though, the boys got excited about a new light/shadow exhibit.  

And then straight to the Smart car as planned.  Penn was so happy to be chauffeured around by Tav (well, notice he's the navigator with his map on his lap).

Tav got the treadmill to work even though it's pretty tough to start.  It works a bunch of gears above that turns bicycle wheels together (that's what he's looking at).

Next the boys were on to building cars out of magnetic pieces and then racing them around the ramp area.  

After some more fun in the garage room (trolley, car racing and building wheels with spokes), we headed on to the new exhibit...Bounce!  A room full of balls and open to exploring their bounciness.  Not a bad exhibit for a few boys!

With particular balls, the boys could stand on one side of this screen and bounce the ball and it's path would be traced on the wall.  Very cool.  

They had a sectioned off area where kids could just go nuts bouncing balls.  Helmets and goggles required (even though they were the only ones in there).  The helmets and goggles were a little cumbersome, but oh so cute!!!

Next we headed up to the Nursery floor.  It sounds like it's for infants, but the museum has done a great job of making it an appropriate space for little ones and toddlers and preschoolers even.  When we got off the elevator there was a huge space sheep made out of water bottles.  Tav and Penn were immediately astronauts.  3,2,1 Blast off!

The boys roamed around the nursery area for a bit and then settled in the sand area.  They ended up staying there contentedly working over the lighted boxes moving and shaping sand for at least 30 minutes.  I was so happy to see them enjoying such simple activities.  I think they miss digging outdoors and being at the beach.  They were just both lost in the sand play.  Oh and don't miss sweet little Lincoln checking out what they are up to. =)

Later they moved on to the bubble see-saw.  Lincoln was watching again as he really likes this ride too.  Tav was heavier than Penn, so he was really slamming him up and down.  Penn thought it was funny, add to that the bubbles it created in the water wall between them and they were a happy pair.

Steph grabbed my camera when I was working with the boys in the blue rocks area.  Not a super exciting picture, but I'm so rarely in the photos, that I figured I should include it to prove I was there. =) 

Penn and Tav stayed at this table for awhile too.  Again, I just loved watching them being creative making games and fun play out of such simple activities.  I think they were so refreshed by the change of scenery and the hands-on activities.  They were so calm and content.  It was lovely!

A little before noon we headed down for a lunch break.  After lunch we had time for one more activity and Tav chose the water floor.  Penn hasn't been in that area since he was old enough to really enjoy it and boy did he enjoy it on this visit!!  So much hard work with water, buckets and pumps, etc.  Lincoln was totally into this floor as well.  He was fearless in having fun with the water.  

Tav kept working with the water flow and attempted to make a dam strong enough to hold it back.  

Since it's the middle of the winter, I just loved seeing Penn's little bare feet walking around the space.  So cute!  I miss those sweet feet (and all that is wonderful about warmer weather too of course!).

Penn just loved dumping water, filling buckets and doing it over and over and over and over again. =)

Tav introduced Penn to the water pump.  Then we had to figure out a back and forth sharing pattern to keep everyone happy. 

Lincoln was closeby checking out the boys much of the time.  He's such a hearty little guy and can totally hang with my older boys.  Impressive!

Well, right at 1pm we had to pack up and get ready to head out into the snowy afternoon to head home for naptime.  We were at the museum for 3 hours and it was a blast watching the boys enjoy, engage and experience things there.  I cannot wait for our next visit.  I'm so glad we got a chance to use our passes before baby came.  It was a joy to watch these boys explore these exhibits.  Thanks, Stephanie, for getting together.  It was great to have a mom friend to chat with and enjoy this time with.  I look forward to doing it again!