houston children's museum

we decided, this year at least, that instead of just doing presents for birthdays, we'd let the kids pick something fun they wanted to do as a family.  we gave isaac a few options and he picked the houston children's museum.  ryan took a day off and we all headed down together.

we probably could have spent the greater part of the day at the entrance driving this train engine.

we started out in the science lab.  

isaac built some molecules

cody and i built a paper rocket that shot off with a straw and isaac and i created a little cotton ball shooter.

bonnie was pretty content once i gave her a cup and i could have stayed in this area all day, but the outside called.

i think ryan had more fun playing in the water than the boys.  (cody created the square in the front of the picture)

i felt bad keeping bonnie cooped up the ergo the whole day, so she and i took a couple of breaks in the baby/toddler area upstairs while the boys explored.  

we don't have stairs, but she sure figured these out fast.

this was where bonnie spent the most time.  if the tinny noise wasn't so darn annoying, i'd consider getting her a piano of her own.

i do miss the huge mirrors we had on our closet door in california when i remember how much babies love themselves.  bonnie just couldn't get enough of that cute girl in the mirror.

this machine worked on a vacuum and we got it set up to shoot the balls out onto the head of whoever put it in.  it was pretty entertaining.  isaac ran around picking up the fuzzy balls to put in over and over.

cody and i had a good chat on these phones that had a camera attached so he had to show it to his dad too.  he invited me over to his house and gave me very detailed directions.

after lunch we headed to the basement level of the museum.  cody, isaac, and ryan took turned going through this obstacle course.  what a great way to work off some energy!

there was a big room with supplies to make all kinds of fun things like paper airplanes and rockets, lego cars, and paper parachutes - with the technology to test them.  we got to shoot off the rockets and airplanes we made into the black netted area behind isaac.

my favorite place was probably kidtropolis.  it was a whole town for kids to explore.  they had a post office where you could mail a package, scan it in, send it down the rollers and load it into the mail truck for delivery.  the vet clinic had 'charts' for each of the stuffed animals with complaints to address with medicine or x-rays. each place kids visit and 'work' they get a paycheck that they can deposit onto their kidtropolis card at the bank.  it was super fun to explore.

there were a bunch of preschools/day cares visiting in the morning, but cody wasn't phased.  he loved driving the ambulance and taking care of the patient in the back.

isaac was a bit more hesitant with so many kids around, so he stayed close, but we still had lots of fun exploring and created quite the feast at the diner.

bonnie was pretty exhausted by the end, but i think even she had fun.

it was such a fun day and outing for the whole family!