family fun days, day #2

Annnnnd, I'm back! Well hold onto your drool bib, because this day was also a huge, fun-filled Family Fun Day! It started with Ivar and Elsie building their lego sets from yesterday. Then we ate an incredible breakfast at the hotel. Except, I just had rice cereal and prunes. Which I didn't mind one bit. So delicious. I just love food. 

Then we came back to the room and while Dad shoveled the car out, we found DANIEL TIGER on the tv! Oh the joy! The happiness! We were all so thrilled! But here's something hilarious. In this episode Daniel and his friends were sad because the little duckling they had in their classroom had grown too big and had to be taken to a farm. And they were going to miss it so much. Well, Ivar and Elsie had lots of street smarts to tell Daniel and his friends. Elsie said the duck would probably be happier on the farm than in their little box inside. Good point Elsie. And then Ivar schooled Daniel and his pals, "the people at that farm are going to eat your duck!" And he laughed and laughed.

So on this day, we went to the Omni Theatre! Grandpa Paul really, really wanted Ivar to see the movie about the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Ivar and Grandpa have a shared love of trains and that is really fun for them. Grandpa wanted him to see the movie even though Grandpa was in Arizona. So Grandpa said, "I'll pay for your family's tickets and tickets to the Science Museum." What a guy! Thank you very much, Grandpa.

We got there early for the movie, and spent some time in the State Park Exhibit. I've got to say, there is a lot of free stuff to do in the lobby of the Science Museum. Really cool stuff. Like sit in a canoe and wander down the Mississippi River.

And Ivar flew like an eagle and swooped for fish in the river.

And then it was time for the movie. This was my very first movie! In fact, none of us kids had been in a theater before so this was very, very special. The movie was beautiful and Hattie and I made it through 40 whole minutes. Which is 39 more minutes than Mom thought we'd last.

Now do you know this store? It's the Science Museum Store and it is very special to my mom because her mom used to take her shopping in this store quite a bit. It has so many fun and creative and clever toys. Mom could have stayed in there for hours. And after a conversation with Grandma Margaret, this is where the grandkids get to go shopping for Christmas presents this year. Isn't that a fun idea?!!

Well the Science Museum is pretty spendy, so my mom decided to have us go to the Children's Museum instead because tickets cost about half as much and because we are sort of the perfect ages for the Children's Museum.

Now I should add that while leaving the parking ramp of the Science Museum it was discovered that someone lost the parking ticket. We still don't know where it is. Probably at the bottom of the river. But yowza. If you ever want to see my mom and dad frustrated, hide the parking ticket and make them pay the full rate! They'll rip the car apart and search like crazy people and you'll be entertained.

Anyway, they paid the $15 day rate, which was just $6 over what they would have paid. Not actually that much money. But, you know, it's the principle of the thing. We will always wonder where that ticket went.

And then we were off to the Children's Museum! What a fun place!

We got there about 2:00 and it was SO LOUD! There were lots of school groups there and everyone was shrieking and screaming down the fun slide. But about an hour later, the place nearly cleared out and it was much more fun. A worker told Mom that Friday nights, Saturdays and Tuesdays (no field trips that day) are the quietest and calmest. Good to know! I just wanted to pass that on to you so your mom would know too.

Hattie was very happy at the Children's Museum. She liked it all. And played so, so hard. She especially loved the workshop and the light switches that each turned on or off a different light fixture on the ceiling. Imagine walking into Menards lighting section, but getting to turn the lights on and off yourself! So fun!

And Ivar and Elsie played the longest at the Post Office, cranking boxes up to the sorting room, running up the stairs to help sort the boxes and sending them back down the shoot for another round of postal fun. They were sweaty they played so hard!

Then we found the Daniel Tiger Exhibit. It was darling and fun to see parts of our favorite episodes up close. 

We ended in the Studio where Ivar and Mom played with clay, Elsie and Hattie played with moon sand or cloud dough or something like that and I finally decided to give up the fight and close my eyes. I was told later that we ended the trip with Subway for the kids and that Elsie cried the entire way home, very sadly, because the trip was over. When we got home, we all piled into Mom and Dad's bed under their electric blanket because Dad had turned the heat waaaaay down and the house was freezing. Dad read a story to everybody and of all the moments on our Family Fun Days, this one, with all six of us in her bed, was Mom's very favorite part.