One For Mankind

I remember visiting my grandparents and going through the Cosmosphere with my family when I was little. Our kids might have been a bit small for the museum, but Rob enjoyed going through with them along with his mom. The highlight for them was putting on the astronaut costumes. They pretended to talk to each other though the pretend head sets and had a great time playing.

Children's Museum with Daddy

Rob took the morning off and went to the Children's Museum with us. The kids loved having him around, loved it so much that they requested to ride the carousel. In the past when I have suggested riding the carousel it would end in tears and scared frightening cries of terror. Not today, they blew me kisses while riding in circles and waved with big happy smiles.

They also have the Clifford exhibit at the museum. We met a few friends and let the kids run wild. Ellery found the corner with Clifford books and took every book off the shelf, set them next to her in a pile, and then read though each one all by herself. That makes a parents heart smile. She might not talk a lot or clearly, but her love for books should help us out in this department in the future.

Hard Hats

We met a few of Mason's preschool buddies at the Children's Museum for some fun. Everyone had a good time, but it made me realize Ellery doesn't have any "girl" friends. I realize she is only 2, but we socialized Mason a bit more at 2 so he had friends and I can't help but compare. Plus I think little boys are in abundance while little girls are harder to come by or maybe it is just because she is the second child and we don't do things for her like we did with the first?

Can you tell me how.......

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

La La La La Elmos' World

Our Children's Museum has a visiting exhibit called Sesame Street and The Body and Elmo makes a few visits a month. I packed up the kids so we could go meet Elmo. Mason and Ellery had a great time looking through the exhibit, but Ellery wasn't so thrilled to meet the real live Elmo. Mason was a bit more excited to see him and gave him high fives and hugs.

Exploration Place

We met Grandma Ellen at Exploration Place this morning. The kids had a great time and we were able to see the traveling exhibit on whales. We saw all sorts of cool whale things and Mason watched a short video of a whale diving 4500 feet to eat fish and a giant squid and then resurface to the water. When it came back up to the surface it jumped out of the water and Mason was hooked and watched the video another 3 times to watch it eat the squid and then jump out of the water again. He gave one of his famous "ohh man and whoas". We also saw a life size replica of a blue whales heart. It was almost as tall as me and 4-5 ft wide. It was amazing. They had it where the kids could crawl into it and look around. Very interesting things, we of course didn't get to see it all to the fullest. It is hard to take everything in and read the interesting facts while chasing two toddlers around.
After the whale exhibit we then wondered around and found other fun and interesting toys. I will highlight what seemed to be favorites. Ellery enjoyed sticking her head and hand in and out of these sunflowers. They had a sensor on them and they would giggle and Ellery liked making them giggle at her. Mason was slow to warm up to the toddler roller coaster, but once he tried it he wanted to ride over and over. We had a great time and a big thanks to Grandma Ellen for taking us to Exploration Place.

Strategic Air and Space Museum

Look closely you will see three pairs of eyes lit up like they are in a candy store rather than at an air and space museum. It was nice, but I was not as thrilled as these three were!

Mason enjoyed pretending he was a pilot. I should have been a pilot, I am a button pusher and look at all the buttons and gauges you get to tinker with. What a button pushers dream.

Rob and Ellery casually posing for a photo opp on a bomb.

It was really neat to look at all the planes. It is fun seeing how big they are and really puts it in prospective when you get to stand right next to it or under it. Rob went through his dad's flight logs and made a list of a few planes his dad had flown. It was a lot of fun going around and looking at them and we were able to find a lot of the planes his dad flew and spent time flying when he was in the air force as a test pilot. I think I would have enjoyed the museum a bit more if Rob's dad would have been able to share his stories and insights.

On a funny note.....Ellery's hair attracts a lot of attention on how it sticks up. In her defense it is starting to lay down a bit more but some days it is wild and crazy. It also amazes me how people will approach her and touch her hair and say things like "wow static sure does a trick on her" and I respond with "that's not static". Anyways, at the Strategic Air and Space Museum they have a place you can pretend to fly a model airplane and keep it straight with all the gadgets. We let Mason try and put Ellery down to watch and got a kick out watching her hair blow around. It of course drew a crowd and she loved every minute of it. Mason like it as well but we are wondering when he will realize the crowd is for his sister and not him!

Children's Museum

We hit the Children's Museum after the parade for a quick run through since we were in the area. They have traveling exhibits and currently "Speed" is visiting us. I am a huge fan of the Downhill Ski game they have and have been telling Rob about it and he was finally able to experience it with Mason. It is a hot attraction and they have two and I would love to place Mason on one by himself while I get to play on the other but their always seems to be a line and I feel bad. It is ultimately for the kids and I know how much I love it and can only imagine the thrill it brings them. I guess we feel some what justified playing it with Mason on it in front of us even if he has no idea what he is doing.

Omaha Children's Museum

We went to the Omahas Children Museum today and had a great time. We sat through the bubble talk and the highlight was them lighting a bubble on fire. We got a big "whoa" out of Mason and he says with a deep voice and with such a vibrant feeling behind it. I need to get it on video for you to be able to get the full experience of his whoa. He says it when he sees trucks, tractors, and construction equipment quite frequently.

They also have an area with hundreds of balls, you put them in and they follow a track and shoot our in different areas and ways. Mason was in heaven while Ellery took in all the noises and action. Rob was chasing Mason all around the ball area.

They also had a special exhibit on dinosaurs. It got a "whoa" out of Mason and even a squat down and access where I should run to next before I let out the next "whoa". We did manage to capture a snap shot of Mason starting to say "whoa".