More Birthday Madness

Oh what a great day we had today! It is Gideon birthday for real today and Gabe just happened to have the day off from school so Rob took the day off and we surprised the kids with some extra fun.

First order of business, donuts for breakfast. Yum!

Gideon can get pretty intense about his food.

Zion is not afraid to get a little messy.

After breakfast we get the kids dressed and run a couple errands.

What?! Not what you were expecting me to say? Well, Gabe had an ear infection and had to have a course of antibiotics which we got at Target.

Are you wondering where this is going? he he

Well, Target apparently has this neat program. When we picked up the medicine they gave Gabe a chart and stickers. Every time he took a dose he put a sticker on the chart. When he was done we took it back to Target and Gabe got to pick a toy out of the prize box. What a great way to help Gabe to help me to remember his medicine.

Then we hit the library. Had a couple of returns to make but what we were really hoping for was that there would be a Play Pass checked in. SCORE! There was one! The Play Pass helped us on our next venture - the Children's Museum! The Play Pass is a special card that you check out from the library (duh) that gives you four FREE entries into the museum. They are rarely checked in as I'm sure you can see why they would be popular. But, thank you God, there was one for us today!

Then we get to the museum and the woman at the counter asked how old Gideon was and when we told her we were there today to celebrate his 2nd birthday she let him in for free too. Yippee!

Not much is exciting in this picture but I just love brick building with old murals.

Gideon's first discovery is a play car. I think he's trying to tell me he'd rather not hold still for a photo at the moment.

Gabe finds the orchard and de-harvests apples. Or would that be un-harvest?
Anyway, there is a big area with trees and gardens where you can pick the fruits and vegetables. I guess someone has to put them back.

Meanwhile, Gideon finds an area with about a dozen different kinds of blocks and commences stacking.

We were fortunate to be there for bubble time, too. One of the staff members walked around with what has to be the best bubble blower I've ever seen (have GOT to get one of those).

Thems was some sturdy bubbles!

The three found the chalk board for a little bit.

But then fell enamored with the lit table for building.

There were these cool building blocks that were brightly colored and full of magnets.

Gideon loved them even more covered with bubbles.

Moving deeper into the museum Zion and Gideon discover the paint cans and brushes. Luckily for Rob (he does the laundry, ya know) they must have been using The Emperors New Paint. I couldn't see it at all no matter how much the kids painted.

After that we discovered the story area. That was a whole museum in itself. You could sit and watch a video of a story and then go and be part of the story. Gabe dressed up first as a raven and then as a totem (I think).

You could act out the story or participate in activities like fishing or even try your hand at animation.

Gideon discovers the grocery store which is adjacent to the orchard that Gabe had played in earlier. They are connected by the big truck that takes the food from harvest to market to deli. You can participate in all of it. Picking the food, loading the truck, selling it at the market or making food at the deli. So cool.

There's Zion in part of the garden where you can pick veggies.

One last stop to play with the magnets.

After the museum we head off to a special birthday lunch for Gideon. If you have kids you can fill out a card at Applebees and they mail it to you and they get a free entree.

Then back home we head for nap. I think I may have needed it more than the kids today. While Gideon and Zion napped Rob put together the water table we got Gideon for his birthday. Now I'm hoping my little Dowser won't have to hunt for puddles in the yard or put dirt in the dog water.

Zion woke up first and was so excited she actually wore a coat. *gasp* I know. This is serious. She typically won't wear a coat if it's only 20 degrees outside. But once she saw the water table she actually said she'd wear her coat in order to go play. While it looks mighty sunny in the picture only moments ago the sky was black and it was dumping rain and the potential was still there. It had been doing this all day. Sun in one half of the sky and black clouds and rain in the other half. Typical Washington (I love it).

Finally, everyone is awake and having fun at the water table. Gideon cried when he had to come in for dinner. Like cried so hard he was shaking. I think this is one birthday present that is going to be in use for a long time to come.

Our fun day technically didn't end there. After dinner we had to run off to get Gabe to AWANA and us to Bible study from which we often get back late. So now we are home, the kids are in bed and I can sit down and tell you all about it.

Yep. It's been a great day!