When we were in Mesa, I suggested we take the kids to the Children's Museum in Phoenix. Luckily, Brett thought it sounded fun, so we decided to go. We had such a great time with the kids!
Not to mention, that it is amazing to be in a space, that is truly geared for children--pretty much anything can be touched, moved, and is nearly indestructible. There are places for running, climbing, crawling, inspecting, and my favorite--lots of opportunity for role and pretend play. I am hoping to try to make my home more like this. More "lived in". More conducive to babies and toddlers and kids. It's a work in progress.
It is one of my favorite things to watch my kids concentrate, to watch them figure things out, and to make all these little connections in their brains. I think some of that is just because I'm their mom, but I also learned a lot about this sort of thing in college studying for my degree--recreational therapy, so it makes sense that I'm intrigued and happy about it all.
One perk of Landon and Vivienne being so close in age, is that they enjoyed a lot of the same things at the museum.
All sorts of balls to touch and drop and see how they fall and effect things.
A fan to stand on...
Practicing his balance on this animal
I was being a peeping/stalking mom and watching Landon through the window of the playhouse. Doing dishes, feeding the babies, snuggling them on his shoulder and patting their back while walking through the house to put them down for a nap. Seriously, he is such a nurturing sweet little boy.
The Market was incredible. Drawers to pull out and smell different spices. Dried split peas that could be scooped up into a weight. All sorts of food they could buy. I loved how realistic the produce looked--a lot of it even had a realistic weight and density to it. There were "checkouts" with a conveyor belt and register. It was so neat to see the older children there, helping the younger kids "buy" their groceries. There was a small "work room" that the purchased groceries went to, and the older kids threw them into large linen baskets on casters to restock the shelves. It was incredible to see how well these kids that didn't know each other, were so helpful and cooperative and fell into different roles to work together.
We went smack-dab in the middle of lunch time and nap time. The kids did amazing and probably could have stayed to play and explore longer. Not to mention, I forgot to pack snacks! And even without that safety net, the kids were fantastic.
We decided to stop by In-n-Out on the way home, so the kids could get full and take a nice long nap. Vivienne kept dozing off on the way, so I kept tickling her. She played a game back with me--keeping her eyes closed and just smiling really big. What a funny little stinker.
Not to mention, that it is amazing to be in a space, that is truly geared for children--pretty much anything can be touched, moved, and is nearly indestructible. There are places for running, climbing, crawling, inspecting, and my favorite--lots of opportunity for role and pretend play. I am hoping to try to make my home more like this. More "lived in". More conducive to babies and toddlers and kids. It's a work in progress.
It is one of my favorite things to watch my kids concentrate, to watch them figure things out, and to make all these little connections in their brains. I think some of that is just because I'm their mom, but I also learned a lot about this sort of thing in college studying for my degree--recreational therapy, so it makes sense that I'm intrigued and happy about it all.
One perk of Landon and Vivienne being so close in age, is that they enjoyed a lot of the same things at the museum.
All sorts of balls to touch and drop and see how they fall and effect things.
A fan to stand on...
Practicing his balance on this animal
I was being a peeping/stalking mom and watching Landon through the window of the playhouse. Doing dishes, feeding the babies, snuggling them on his shoulder and patting their back while walking through the house to put them down for a nap. Seriously, he is such a nurturing sweet little boy.
The Market was incredible. Drawers to pull out and smell different spices. Dried split peas that could be scooped up into a weight. All sorts of food they could buy. I loved how realistic the produce looked--a lot of it even had a realistic weight and density to it. There were "checkouts" with a conveyor belt and register. It was so neat to see the older children there, helping the younger kids "buy" their groceries. There was a small "work room" that the purchased groceries went to, and the older kids threw them into large linen baskets on casters to restock the shelves. It was incredible to see how well these kids that didn't know each other, were so helpful and cooperative and fell into different roles to work together.
We went smack-dab in the middle of lunch time and nap time. The kids did amazing and probably could have stayed to play and explore longer. Not to mention, I forgot to pack snacks! And even without that safety net, the kids were fantastic.
We decided to stop by In-n-Out on the way home, so the kids could get full and take a nice long nap. Vivienne kept dozing off on the way, so I kept tickling her. She played a game back with me--keeping her eyes closed and just smiling really big. What a funny little stinker.
