Spring Break-Wednesday

We took our time having breakfast and making a Star Wars Lego set Carter got for his birthday yesterday.  Then we got dressed and headed out to the Burke Museum on the University of Washington Campus in Seattle.  http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/  Cost for us was $11.50 because we got $2 off each Carter and I for having a Prime Card and Henri was free.  Children are 5-17.  The museum focuses on Natural History and Northwest history.  I was a little worried about it being too old for Carter.  A friend was worried her 3 year old would be scared of the American Indian masks and dinosaur bones. 

I think she was right, 3 may not be the right age for this museum, but my boys at 5 and 16 months LOVED it.  It's pretty small, so it didn't take very long and we had time for a snack in the cafe.  Carter loved the dinosaur bones and even thought the Native American art and even the dead animals (stuffed) were really cool.  Henri loved looking at everything as a lot of it was low enough for him to see from the stroller.  He's also not really old enough to think about being scared of such things.

After a stop at the cafe, we headed back over to Bellevue near the community college for Dizzy's Busstop.  Dizzy Tumblebusses are converted school busses that have tumbling and play equipment and go to local daycares and children's centers.  The Bus Stop is relatively new and is a fixed location for the buses to park and to play at. http://www.dizzybus.com/  Open playtime is 1:30-4:00 most weekdays and was $7 per kid, you supervise your own kids.  They have a cubby area where you can snack and leave shoes and coats and bags, a small toy area, a workroom where they set out activities for the kids and a small tumbling type area.  Each area has gates so you can contain kids and keep an eye on them.

I'll admit it when I first went in I was a bit underwhelmed.  The toys were in a small hallway, the tumbling area is a set of hanging rings, monkey bars, a slide, a trampoline and there are some balls and some movable tumbling cushions.  There was also camp going on this week for spring break, and I'm not the biggest fan of other people's kids, they were all older. 

However, the instructors of the camp kept a fairly good eye on the campers and reminded them that there was a baby and they should watch out for him.  Also, the campers were moved to different areas every 15-20 minutes, so it was easy to be not in the group if we wanted to, though the campers seemed amused by Henri and Carter liked talking to kids his age and jumping with them. As underwhelmed as I was at first, the kids did have fun.  Carter liked the trampoline, checked out the workroom, even though he didn't participate, Henri went on the slide over and over again and they both played in the toy area for a bit as well.

I think we have better, cheaper options way  closer to us; however, if I was taking the kids to Bellevue and we had an hour or 90 minutes between appointments during open gym, I'd consider going again.

Sorry, no pics to share today (museum doesn't allow them and I forgot my camera in the bag in the lobby and didnt' want to climb over the campers having snack to get it), but there was a lovely video of Henri dancing in the car I'll share later today or tonight.

Spring Break-Tuesday

So I'm posting Wednesday morning.  Monday night had some trouble sleeping, so Tuesday night I laid down for "just a minute" after the boys went to bed and was out until the next morning.  Spring Break is wearing me out!

Tuesday was Carter's FIFTH birthday!!!

Tuesday we had breakfast at Ruby's (which I sadly have no pictures of :(  )  but we were joined by the Vaughns, Wetzels & Rebers and it made for a party of 4 moms and 10 kids-quite the breakfast party!

Then we were off to the Pacific Science Museum.  We didn't get very far, but had a lot of fun.  First stop was the butterflies.  The butterflies are great for kids Henri's age because you can get close enough to see them!

Boys looking in the Coy pond (the Wetzels & Vaughns came with us to the science center).

  A Butterfly landed on Amanda   then one landed on Carter (look at the back of his shirt near the white letters, it's a blue butterfly on a blue shirt, so it's a little hard to spot) Henri enjoyed the bees, busy as him.

After making some sqished pennies, they figured out how big they were compared to dinosaur footprints...   Then played in the toddler area   Then saw the Naked Mole Rats on our way out   then we went back home.  The Reffels came over for an hour or so, then we all went to Costco for dinner & shopping. 

Spring Break-Monday

Today we left the house at 9am, went to Office Max for printer ink and address labels for printer.  Then we headed to the fabric store as they opened at 9:30 for buttons for a shirt of Paul's.  Then at 10am when Sears  opened, we got the boys' photos for Canadian Citizenship paperwork and shopped the clearance for baby (can you say fleece Carter's pajamas for $1.99?!?)  by then it was about 11am, so we headed to Arby's for sustenance.

Then we headed to nearby Sky High Trampolines.  http://sea.jumpskyhigh.com/ Carter tried out the big kid room and the trampolines into the foam cube pit, but most of our hour was spent in the under 8 area, which was huge!  About 16 trampolines, 4x4 square.  Carter ran and chased other kids and bounced.  Henri and I were able to take a square and no one bugged us while we bounced baby bounces.  Henri loved it and squealed with delight.  It normally is $11 per person but toddlers are $7 each 11-1 on Mondays.  You jump in bare feet or tennis shoes.

then Henri took a nap while we got the car washed.

  Then we went to the Scratch Patch in Seattle.  (Closed Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)  It's two rooms of about 1 1/2 inches of polished rocks that you can lie in, play in, walk over, etc.  There are pavers you can also walk on if you prefer. Admission is $2 and you stay as long as you like, or you can fill one of 3 size baggies of your favorite rocks and the $2 is included in the baggy price.  Apparently these are very big in South Africa, and I can see why.  http://www.scratchpatchusa.com/

 Then we stopped by the scrapbook store where I found materials to finish a project, the outlet mall to return some things a bit too boyish and get some girlier things, then raced home for dinner (love that crockpot-corned beef!) and then MOPs steering team meeting tonight. Whew! Tomorrow's Carter's birthday breakfast & Science Museum!  Stay tuned for pics from there tomorrow evening.

Henri's first egg hunt videos

I took a couple of videos of Henri doing his first Egg Hunt...

Easter Saturday, Egg Hunting & Dying!

Henri attended his first egg hunt today.  It's at the local park put on by our Home Owner's Association.  He has no idea what is about to commence, but figures it must be fun, there's kids here, after all.Henri then thought you were to open the eggs as you found them.  I explained that this would slow him down and he started shoving them in his basket two at a time.  Carter got to go do the big part of the park, which meant a full basket.  Showing off the spoils....Henri discovered some of the eggs had chocolate in them.  Then we headed off to church, where the kids are still in the same hunting age group.  First Carter made sure that Henri got a good seat for the story of the Golden Egg. Then Henri went off to find eggs.   Carter & Paul checked out the goodies.  Then we tried our hand at dying Easter eggs.  Paul showed Henri how it works...   He thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen...  Carter is a professional by now.  and patiently waits for the right hue   we ended up with some fine looking eggs  then while taking pictures of the boys with their creations, trying to get both of them to smile...  Henri smashed the two eggs together, so we tried them out.   Henri checks out what Carter does. And decides he likes the yolk.

What Carter wants for his birthday

We went to the mall & Carter made his birthday wish list:
White or Gray Zhu Zhu pet
Zhu Zhu babies or Giant Hamster Fun House or Boat
Red Light Saber (Star Wars)
Water Nerf Gun
Long Strike Nerf Gun (use judgement, if this looks super dangerous, no way, lol!)


He also wants Star Wars Lego sets.  I don't know if you've seen the prices lately, but cash or gift certificates to Target or Toys R Us so he can combine for big sets would be great.

He also needs Size 6 pajamas :)

More Family in the News!

This is my cousin Jeremy, the artist in this story that appeared on our local news today

http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Spaceworks-Tacoma-89056927.html

He's currently having a show at  http://www.bherdclothing.com/