A Night Day at the Museum

On Thursday, I packed the kids up, told them we were going on another adventure and headed out. I kept our destination a surprise, which was pure torture for Sam. He kept trying to guess where we were going. The park? The mall? Chuck E Cheese's? A birthday party? The zoo? He was so sure that each and every guess was "it" too. Fortunately it wasn't a long drive and we arrived at our destination. The Children's Museum.

The museum had just had their Grand Opening after moving to a new location and being revamped and it was really cool.

This water gun area was fun, except for the kid next to us that kept aiming his water stream directly into Sam's, causing it to spray water all over us. No amount of glaring at him or redirecting Sam's water got the point across to him. Finally we just walked away. Brat.

Zoë loved this little playhouse. It had dollies in it and a crib, into which she very lovingly tucked the babies for a nap. (Note to self: Zoë must have a playhouse when we get out to our property.)


This was a really cool crane that all the boys loved. It had controls that made the arm swing back and forth (slowly), and a winch that raised and lowered to the ground. It had a hook on it where the kids could hook on burlap sacks and crates to move around.


There also was a coloring/craft area, so we spent a little time doing some coloring. I love watching Sam concentrate when he's writing and coloring. That little tongue sticking out cracks me up.

This was probably Zoë's favorite area. It was a produce stand, with bins full of plastic food, along with a cash register. She played here for quite awhile, filling up her basket with food, then dumping it back in the bins and starting over. Sam joined in and eventually a game of "restaurant" evolved with another little girl who was playing there too. I was ready to go home long before they were, but I couldn't bear to make them leave. They were playing so nicely and having so much fun that I just let 'em.

I remember as a little girl, probably about the same age as Zoë, going to a place similar that had a play kitchen area with empty spice tins, jars, cereal boxes, etc. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I've asked my mom about it and it was a preschool of sorts that I very briefly attended when she had to take a part-time job when my Dad got laid off of his job. Or something like that.

Anyway, my point is that I have great memories of playing in places like this and being able to use my imagination. And I want the same for my kids.

It was a really fun day. I love watching my kids play and pretend and learn. And altogether too quickly Sam's Spring Break flew by and now he's back to school. I actually really enjoyed having him home for the week and going on our adventures. So now I'll count the days until summer, when he's out of school, the weather's nice and we can play, play, play!

Let's Play Tag, Shall We?

Like my new internet buddy, Tammy at My Life, I'm very excited to have been tagged for my first meme. Man, with my new cool look and now a meme? I must be big time. LOL

What the heck is a meme, you ask? I don't really know the exact definition, but it's basically a little Q&A session of varying themes that you get picked to do. Kinda like those "Getting to know you" email forwards that constantly clog my inbox. (I secretly really like them.) So in true blogging tradition and in accordance with the rules, Tammy has shared the love and tagged me.

The Rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. So here it goes....

Fact #1 - I went to private Christian schools from 2nd grade all the way thru high school. I was definitely on the straight & narrow until my sophmore year in high school when we moved from a little po-dunk town in Eastern Washington to Southern California. Things changed then. Just a little. That's all I'm sayin'.

Fact #2 - I think I was a pioneer woman in a past life. I'm not 100% sure I even believe in past lives, but if I did, I'm pretty sure I was a pioneer woman. Not THE Pioneer Woman (I wish), but one who traveled west in a covered wagon and homesteaded somewhere.

Fact #3 - In high school, I was in the choir and we traveled and performed all over the Orient the summer I graduated. It was SO much fun.

Fact #4 - I love to cook & bake. I seriously considered going to culinary school BK (before kids), but then I discovered that cooking because I had to took the fun out of it. Besides, I didn't want to be stuck in some hot, noisy restaurant kitchen, churning out plate after plate of food and never get to see people's faces as they enjoyed my creations. I still maintain that if I ever won the lottery I would go to culinary school, but only to learn how to cook awesome stuff so I could throw the best dinner parties around.

Fact #5 - I would love to write a novel. I started writing stories when I was about 9 years old and ever since have always had it in the back of my head. I always am on the lookout for an idea or a setting or a character that I would use to get started. Maybe someday. I think maybe this November I should participate in NaNoWriMo.

Fact #6 - My friend Brooke and I have a fabulous idea for a business, one we have been thinking about for a while now. And I think we're going to start trying to make it a reality. Both our husbands are supportive, our town has nothing like it, and we both think it would be wildly successful (because we ourselves have wished for a place just like it). Friday night is our brainstorming session.

Fact #7 - I've already read 18 books this year. And we're only 15 weeks into the year. Yowza. I think that officially makes me a bookworm.

So that's it for me and my 7 random facts! Did ya learn something new? Are you even more scared/leery/skeptical of me now??

Now it's YOUR turn. I tag the following people:

Chelle at Life With Alexander
Suzie at Up the Hill Backwards
Scarlett at Scarlett's Own Little World
Heather at Crouching Mommy, Hidden Laundry
Jen at A Good Life
Deanna at Domestic Chicky
Stephanie at Books & Flowers

Ok, so that's it. My first meme complete. Your turn!

So Whaddya Think??

Don't you just love my new digs?? I'm so super excited to have a new look for my little corner of the blogger world. I feel much more comfortable and at home here and hope you will too!

So who, you ask, is responsible for this magic? Certainly not me, for even trying to read the tutorial on how to create a blog banner made my eyes bleed. (Note to self: Buy HTML/Web Design for Dummies book.)

The other day I dropped by Domestic Chicky's and noticed that she had an adorable new banner. So I left her a comment telling her how much I liked it and how I was jealous of her new look. She promptly emailed me and said "I can make you one." So I promptly emailed her back and said "OK!! YES!!" After a bit of discussion and WAY too much over-analyzing on my part, I kind of just gave her some basic ideas and left it in her hands. (She might have a different version for you.) And my, what capable hands they are! I'm thrilled with what she came up with. It's a much more accurate representation of ME. And yes, if I were a color, I'd be red. I'm definitely not a "standard template that's available to everyone" kind of gal. So this totally makes me happy.

A huge thank you to Domestic Chicky for sharing her mad skillz with me. And for being so patient with me and my incessant indecisiveness. (My new self-admonition: "It's not like I'm tattooing it on my body.") If you're in the market for a new look for your blog, go see her. You can see more of her designs here.

Oh, and let me know what you think!

Flashback Friday

So I just had a brilliant idea! Fridays here will be Flashback Friday where I will try to post a picture from the same date in previous years (or very near the date).

This week's selection is from April 11, 2006.

Zoë was 7 months old and finally starting to get some blonde fuzz on her head.

What a sweet baby she was...

Deal of the Century

As I do every morning, I grab a cup of coffee and turn on my computer to check my email and Google Reader. This morning Swistle posted about doing some clothes shopping for her daughter at The Children's Place, who is having a 30% off sale, and that wantnot.net has a coupon code for an additional 15% off!

So I trotted over, got the code, and headed to The Children's Place to see what they had on their sale rack. I've been trying to find Zoë some new clothes, jeans specifically, because it seems overnight that everything is too small for her. She's grown about 2" in the last six months and her clothes are starting to show it. I tried looking at Old Navy the other day and, I kid you not, they had 3 pair of jeans. Not 3 styles of jeans, but 3 pair of jeans period, and not in her size. Everything that is on the racks is for spring/summer, and it is definitely not warm enough here yet to be dressing her in miniskirts and tank tops. That, unfortunately, is months away.

Anyway, I totally hit the motherlode. I got her 2 pair of jeans, 1 pair of khaki capris, 5 shirts, a dress and 3 t-shirts for Sam for the bargain price of $62! And that included tax and shipping (which is only $5). Now, I may be putting the cart before the horse in my excitement. According to their size charts, her height & weight put her in a 3T, so that's what I ordered. But I worry that the pants will be too big (although they have adjustable waists and she will grow) and that the shirts will shrink and be too small. So I'm cautiously optimistic and will anxiously await the arrival of my package.

But I wanted to share the links in case you're in need of some new kid clothes. Let me know what YOU get.

Coming soon: Yet another post about our Spring Break adventures!

I won!

This bag is now coming to live with me! I "won" it off of Ebay, at the wise suggestion of my friend Chelle. Can you believe it?! The exact bag I was dreaming of, was just waiting there for me to adopt it. And I got it for about $25 LESS than I would've paid had I bought it retail. Total scorage.

Not sure why I didn't think of looking on Ebay myself. I mean, I'm totally on friendly terms with Ebay and spend quite a bit of time visiting there, but sometimes my brain just isn't capable of UN-fixating on something and looking at alternative sources. Sometimes ya just can't see the forest for the trees.

Dinosaurs and Butterflies and Vomit, Oh My!

It's Spring Break! Having a school-aged child for the first time, this week-long reprieve from having to drive back and forth to school, pack lunches, track down hidden library books and adhere to some semblance of a schedule is a nice break for me! My only goal for the week was to do some fun and "special" activities with the kids so that I we didn't end sitting around the house in my our jammies all day reading blogs watching cartoons.

Yesterday we headed down to the science center. My co-worker and friend, April the Amazing Shrinking Nurse, joined me for the field trip, along with her little boy, G-man. There were some really neat things to see and do, although I have to admit, some of it was geared towards kids a bit older than our's. We would have loved to have visited the Planetarium, but alas, children under 4 were not permitted, which ruled out 2 of our 3. And we didn't have a stroller so we couldn't just strap the two little ones in, throw them a handful of crackers, and go enjoy ourselves. JUST KIDDING!! Who would do that?

Instead we totally took advantage of the tot area, letting the kids run and play, climb and explore. Of course, Zoë aka "Little Miss Soggyshorts" was only interested in the water trough, where she managed to thoroughly soak her shirt and sleeves in about 2.7 seconds. The girl is part otter, I swear. She spent the next hour holding her shirt away from her stomach and up under her armpits in order to keep the cold wetness away from her tummy.


After that, we headed into the dinosaur exhibit, which was pretty cool. The lighting wasn't great anywhere in the place, and since I'm still learning how to turn my camera on and off, configuring the Nikon to suck up what little light there was and capture clear and detailed photographs while trying to keep track of two children who were running in different directions was just slightly out of the realm of my parenting capabilities. Ever heard the term "herding cats"? Yah, try doing it in the near dark.

Instead, I turned my lens on the large inanimate exhibits and they cooperated quite nicely.

Next we headed over to the Butterfly House, giving my two hoodlums-on-foot very strict instructions about NOT touching the butterflies. The House was really very beautifully done - lots of lush greenery, a touch of humidity...I almost forgot for a minute the drizzly grayness outside that is spring in the Pacific NW. I've never seen so many different butterflies in my life! And so brilliantly colored and intricately detailed. I could have stayed there for hours, watching them flit around.

Sadly though, partway through the Butterfly House G-man started throwing up. And if that isn't bad enough, April was carrying him and ended up covered in vomit. So we hastily exited the tranquility of the Butterfly House and made a beeline for the bathroom, where she attempted to get herself and G. cleaned up as well as possible. We then bid the science center farewell and headed home. All three of the kids fell asleep before too long so the drive home was quiet and uneventful. Even with the abrupt and unfortunate ending to the outing, it was a lovely day.