OK, I have to say that Discovery Place Kids is my son's favorite museum to date.
And it is growing on me.
But I don't love it.
Sensory overload. There is lots to do.... it feels like too much at times, and it is all fun.
Today, there were too many kids there. The museum had at least two bus loads of summer camp kids arrive at about the same time we did. Note to self: go really early OR go after lunch. Summer campers arrived at 10:30 - museum opens at 9am - and they left around lunch time (12:30). So our afternoon - 1:30 - 4:45 was much easier.
Paul's favorite thing at the museum is the two story 'brick factory'. Foam bricks are transported by kid powered conveyor belt from the first to the second floor where a crane carries them across to a drop zone that brings them back down to the first floor. In theory a static sytem where no bricks are lost. Reality - bricks get lost in the gear works & on the floor of the crane loading area - overzealous kids overload the crane. And we got to see the brick factory opened up today to retrieve a large bin that somehow managed to get thrown in to the works! That was a alot of fun to watch adults scramble to fix what children had managed to mangle! Even Paul enjoyed watching adults work through the problem solving to fix the brick works.
The other perrenial favorite for Paul is the 'Apple Tree' a kid powered auger moves red balls(apples) up to a chute that delivers apples to a tree where kids pick the apples and place them back into the chute to be augered up to the top. Paul loves this thing. Every time. Unfortunately, he doesn't share his love with other children very well. He always wants to turn the crank. Or if he picks apples, he doesn't want other children to pick with him. Lots of competetive angst over this area. Ugh. Oh well, it's part of the age and the stage..... Side note, we also witnessed the apple tree auger being disassembled to retrieve random other items that gummed up the workes including plastic oranges, eggs and apples from the miniature marketplace next to the apple tree.
Today, we played at the water table for probably close to two hours...... Paul was drenched by the time we finished. He was building plumbing systems to turn a paddle wheel, directing sprayers to turn whirlygigs and generally having fun playing with water. I ended up grabbing a floor squeegie and cleaning up water as Paul played. I didn't care, it gave me something to do.
Cool thing: for the first time I can remember, a mom I cared for at the maternity center recognized me in real life outside the hospital and stopped to say hello. It was a positive experience. Thank goodness. I would have been really bummed if she had been unhappy with her maternity center experience (or my nursing care!).
At the end of the day, we played upstairs with the build a roller coaster toy and with the build your own race car sections.... Then it was downstairs for the end of the day sing a long. Paul looks forward to that sing along more than I understand. It's great, though, because at the end of the sing along, they announce that the museum is closed and Paul leaves without a struggle.
We drove to Chic-fil-A and bought ice cream cones on the way home - dessert first! And then I insisted on watching the news (why?) before any video games could be played. Mark came in at 7:10 and as soon as I finish this post, I am putting together leftovers for dinner (it's 7:30).....
All in all, it was a fun day. I am glad that I can spend time with Paul doing something NOT video-game related, and that he enjoys. I hope we can visit the museum again and enjoy a not so crowded day. Unfortunately, once school is in, I expect that every day will be crowded. Oh well.
Why do I feel like these Halcyon days of summer and small childhood are slipping through my fingers like sand? I don't feel like I am ready to have a school age child in my house, but it cannot be avoided. These days are numbered. There will be more fun ahead, but these carefree days are numbered.
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