Kid Stuff

I woke up this morning and realized that we had no plans, which every now and then is good, but I usually need at least a gameplan to have a good day without too much TV and/or yelling...We had friends coming back into town and I decided the boys and I would go to Denver and pick them up. To make it a fun outing, we went to the Denver Children's Museum on our way. We've been there once before when the Brio train display was there. That has since moved on, but the museum has so many fun things for kids from 0-8.



First off, the museum is across the river from Elitch Gardens Six Flags, so Bode was awed in the parking lot by the rollercoasters (or trains, as he called them). The museum was packed. I thought it might be quieter but forgot that most schools are still out for the holidays and today was a day off for Gerald Ford. We first checked out the real fire engine complete with firefighter gear and lights. Then we headed upstairs where we spent most of our time. We have a train table at home, but this train area is just too much fun. We built lots of different routes that traveled from table to table. The hard part is that more aggressive kids kept coming in and taking Bode's trains. Bode is happy to leave other kids alone but for some reason they won't leave him alone! He used to not fight back but he's starting to do so, which i think is good. Fight is a strong word--he's starting to protest I should say. He finally had a complete meltdown and i had to take him away from the trains. We'd been there long enough so it was fine. It was fun while it lasted. I realize it probably doesn't sound like it was by my description, but it really was a good time.



After the trains we went downstairs to a large playscape full of pretend options. A kitchen, an apothecary where you can use a large scale and ring things up on the cash register, tree forts and hideouts and slides, a rowboat where you can sit and "catch fish," and all sorts of other fun things. There were all sorts of other things we didn't have time to explore, like the grocery store, the sports area (to shoot hoops mostly), an arts and crafts area, a builder's workshop and some other things that are hard to explain.


We headed off to pick-up our friends and the boys were beat. They were asleep before we got to the airport. And I enjoyed actual adult conversation on the drive home so I think it was a successful day for all!