To Sacramento

I signed the boys up for a new home school program for next year. As a part of that process we had to drive up to Sacramento for an in-person interview. Michael didn't want me going by myself in the Land Cruiser so he took the day off so go with us. Afterward we went to the children's museum there. It's very small. So small in fact that Michael was upset that we even bothered to take the stroller out of the truck.

We tried going to Old Sacramento afterward but apparently the Old Sacramento Tannery is not actually in Old Sacramento but in a rather seedy neighborhood out in the middle of nowhere. This we know because the GPS took us on a wild goose chase. So instead after that we opted to go to the outlet stores and got everybody new shoes. Hurray!

A Child's Paradise

I've been told about this place in Berkley, Adventure Playground, and I've finally made it there with the kids. At first it sounded rather unbelievable. Children given hammers, nails and saws and they can just build or paint whatever their little hearts desire! Well seems the mind can conceive quite a bit more than little bodies can achieve. The saws never quite got through anything. They did manage to get some nails in though. Before you can go in you have to sign a waiver. Even though the whole place looks like it's about to fall down it is structurally sound with many other boards added that make it look rickety. At about 1:30 I finally had to insist that the children stop working on their project to have some lunch. They would have happily spent the rest of the day there not even caring that they're bellies were grumbling. As we were leaving they asked if we could go back every day. Wow! You guys like it THAT much!?!

They managed to build a foundation, floorboards, one wall and two hat hooks. Not bad, right?

VERY LONG DAY

Based on the previous failures of Garrett's fifth degree hand me down high chair I went looking for a new (used) one on Craig's list. I found an updated model in the style and color that I liked. But it was south of San Jose. The trip down there took much longer than I had anticipated. Due to my high degree of directional ineptitude I had to stop by Fry's to get a new power cord for my GPS because I knew the battery wouldn't make the trip. I looked up our destination and saw that it was just south of San Jose so I thought it would be a quick little detour and then we could go to the Children's museum down there. Gettting to San Jose was an hour fifteen. After that it was we were winding back and forth on a road that just kept going. A full 2 hours later we arrived to pick up Garrett's new high chair. The kids were tired of sitting and getting antsy after being in car so long. Dang my handicap! I didn't realize it would be so far!

I promised the kids relief shortly. The trip back into San Jose didn't seem too long, but by the time we got into the parking lot of the Museum it was nearly 1 pm. I fed everybody lunch right there in the parking lot before we went in. The Museum was loads of fun, as usual!

We were only able to spend a few hours there, but the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I got to take Garrett into the baby's only room. He found a ball and chased it around.

We stayed later than usual and Michael had the only cell phone between us. On the way out I was painfully aware of a modern day lack of pay phones. Cell phones have phased them out. I approached a family in the parking lot and asked to use their phone so I could let my husband know we were on our way home. They were understandably suspicious but were kind enough to let me call, just so long as they dialed the number. I left a message and then went to get in the car and it was dead. Dead as a doornail. We've had problems with the starter, but this was NOT the starter...it was the battery. I knew I could roll start it, but the Cruiser was pointed the wrong direction on the incline in the parking lot. Several strangers coming out of the Children's musuem got involved and after it was determined that nobody out of three families had jumper cables I got in the driver's seat and they pushed the Cruiser backwards and then got behind it for a running start to get it jumpstarted. I poped the clutch and HURRAY!!! We were off! I gave big thanks to all of my impromtu heros and they waved me on with smiles and satisfaction. I got about two blocks away and Ethan informed me at the stop light that Elle was out of her seat belt. I took my foot off the gas to turn around and look while we were stopped at the light and the car died. Right there in the middle of the road. Oh...Crap. It was a totally flat street. Not even a little roll in either direction. Fortunately there was very little traffic that I was impeding. I hit the steering wheel a few times and then had to regroup.

I waved cars around me as they came as I thought about what I was going to do. I had no cell phone. Michael would be expecting me an hour from when I left the message. I had a car full of kids who would be getting hungry. What to do....

I saw two guys walking on the sidewalk opposite of where I was. They looked strong....I bet they could push me started again. I called them over. They tried, but alas the car would not start. We tried going forward and backwards to no avail. They rolled me over to the side of the road where I made a big sign in Ethan's notebook that said, "JUMPER CABLES?". I stood outside the car holding my sign and waited. The two guys felt a vested interest in my situation and stuck around to help. One of them ran back to get their car hoping there would be jumper cables inside. Nope.

It was interesting to see different people's reaction to my sign. Some people pretended not to see me. Others shook their heads sympathetically and shrugged their shoulders as if to say, "No, but I wish I could help."

Finally a young businessman stopped in his porche and GAVE us his jumper cables. He couldn't stick around to wait so he just let us have them. They were short so my helpers had to pull their car up to mine nose to nose for them to reach. They got me started! I insisted that they keep the cables and also gave them a Book of Mormon and shared a little bit of my testimony. By the time we got back on the road the commute traffic was horrible!

It was stops and starts and at one point I had to slam on my brakes. ...see you thought the story was over, right? Well Hunter, who was sound asleap, came flying forward. Car seat and all. Seems someone (Elle) unbuckled his seatbelt. It scared both of us. I pulled over into the left hand shoulder to fix it. Ethan was beside himself. He didn't want to stop because we might not be able to get started again. But he didn't want his brother to get hurt either. "I just want to go home!" he cried. Fortunately I got Hunter seat buckled again while managing to keep the car running. Two and a half hours later we finally got home. Sigh...

Habitot

We went to Habitot for the first time in a while. They don't have free parking, which is probably why it's been so long. They've added quite a bit to their water play and grocery store since last we were there. The kids spent a lot of time in the water play area. They brought in little cars to make a car wash. The kids rode around in one and "washed" the other, which I thought was smart since they weren't getting themselves wet by washing both.

Elle spent a bit of time making the art project. They had several salad spinners with paper plates, paint and droppers for the paint. She would put drip paint onto her plate and then put the lid on and spin it making neat designs. Hunter had me write his name in paint and then spun it, which looked really cool. Ethan only put paint around the edges of his plate so the design looked rather striking.

I mostly just followed Elle around and let the boys run on their own. Habitot is the smallest of any of the places we go so they were relatively easy to keep track of. Hunter went and painted his face in the dress up area. Ethan and he played make believe in the space ship and launching station they had set up. In the construction zone Ethan used the building materials to build a "house". What he did was make an outline, kind of like a live architectural floor plan. He showed me everybody's bedrooms and the door and all the other aspects of his creation. It was impressive.

One of Elle's favorite things at any museum are the areas where she can pretend to be like Mom. She went into the little store and went shopping with a little grocery cart. She brought it over to me and we talked about all the things she picked out and she pretended to eat each one after we talked about it.

A box for your pennies

I took the kids to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. Ethan made a special request to go. The last time we went he discovered the ship wreck sand box where they plant pennies for the children to find. Ethan came prepared with an empty baby wipes box to collect his treasure in.

The museum is mostly outdoors, so sunblock is a MUST! For the boys it was a veritable paradise of things to do. They ran up along the nature trail and rang the bell then dug in the sand, played on the boat ran through the trees. All the while I'm thinking to myself..."They're going to SLEEP TONIGHT!"

I put the beeper bear on Hunter so I could call them if ever I lost sight of them. I went around with Elle in her sweet tender way and explored all the water exhibits and flowers. She liked to splash and play with the fishes, climb on the spiderweb. We even found some frogs that when you stroked their backs with a stick it sounded like a real frog croaking.

When lunch time rolled around I gathered them all together and sat down. No sooner did I get settled than a mom and a crying boy (about 3 or a young 4) came up to the table.

"My son said that your son (pointing to Hunter) hit him" Hunter had his back to the mom and her son. I asked him if he hit someone. Without even turning around he said, "The boy with the jacket?" Sure enough the boy had a jacket on.

Well, at least he owned up to it. I walked around the table, stood Hunter up on the bench so I could look him in the eye and said, "What happened?"
"Well, he was beating up a little guy and so I hit him" I had to make a FAST judgement call since the other mom was right there and expecting satisfaction. "You are NOT the police. You apologize to him." He did and I apologized to the mom as well.

I wonder if I made the right call...

We asked him more about it later at dinner. Apparently this boy was beating up a littler boy and according to Hunter, "he lost". Hunter is a very sensitive person, but also very physical. He felt obligated to defend the littler boy and so he hit the aggressor. But, then the bigger boy went running to his mom, 'cause now HE's the victim.

It's a hard call to make. I think there is almost a double standard. Children are required to get an adult for resolve, but adults are expected to step up and do something when it's their peers. That's what a real hero does, anyway. Unfortunately after years of training to 'get somebody else', those children grow up to adults who are paralyzed to act when it really matters.

I took the kids around to all the indoor activities after lunch. One of the rooms is a play model of all the marine-type BayArea spots, like the wharf, the docks, the bridges... and I laughed at their toll booth. $1.50. YA! Try again! At $4 a pop, I would LOVE for the bridge toll to be back down to $1.50. But, then again we get the free carpool lane if I time it just right.

After we had seen all the inside stuff, Ethan and Hunter insisted that they wanted to go dig for more pennies. I told them I expected them to stay at the boat and it would be OK. I took Elle around the nature walk. As we came out and I went looking for the boys at the treasure boat...they were not there. Before I could push the button to signal that I was looking for them I heard over the walkie-talkie of an employee walking by, "We've got two curly headed blond boys looking for their mom at the tot-spot." I turned around and said, "That's me." The boys had given their names and mine and told them I had black hair. Well, close.

Ethan had collected 32 pennies. He carried his 'treasure chest' around with him all day. Unfortunately the cheapest thing in the little store was 39 cents. So, he took his pennies home.

First time to Explorit

I took the kids to Explorit for the first time. We haven't been before this because they usually don't open until 2 pm. Since it was a holiday they opened at 1pm, so we made the trip.

There was a lot of new stuff to try out and a few regular stuff from other places. Hunter's favorite was the race car track that you got to build along a wall. The trick was to keep the car on the track, but get it going as fast as possible. A lesson in physics to be sure...but it will be a while before they crunch any equations. The exposure to this sort of thing is excellent.

They had a craft room that was similar to the one in Stockton, but not as good. You were supposed to build something that would slow a marble down when dropped from shoulder height. Hunter worked on a wall mounted track that someone started and then left. Ethan wasn't interested in the project, so he built a boat out of recycled materials and lots of tape.

Another area had specific things you could build like a parachute or a helicopter with detailed instructions and pictures to follow along.


One of my favorites was a gear wall that had all sizes of different gears that were held to a metal wall with magnets. This design is so much better than the peg board because the arrangements are infinite. Elle liked to watch how they all turned at once when she cranked the one handle.

Something completely unique about this children's museum was their wet lab. Yes, they had a chemistry lab. I was in heaven! They had a couple of experiments with bromethyl blue which showed how it changed colors when you added vinegar or blew your breath into it. They had modified the straws to make sure the kids could blow but not suck any of the solution up and drink it. Hunter thought the straws were broken so he kept on opening one after another before I explained that they were supposed to be that way.

School and Children's Museum of Vegas

The second day of the Con-Ag Expo, I wasn't all that interested, but I did want to go to a local LDS private school that Karen told me about; American Heritage. The school was based on the model in American Fork.

I called one of Karen's friends who has a child enrolled to ask her about how she liked it and what she liked most. It was interesting to get her feedback, because a lot of the positives for her were basic things that are already in the model for Bridges Academy.

Karen and Mathew went with me to visit the school. I liked that they blended Biblical and secular history and made an understanding, appreciation and love of America's founding an important part of the curriculum. They were operating out of a temporary location in a strip mall, but given their sparse circumstances I think there was still magic in the classroom. I got a good overview of their approach as I stepped into each classroom. One classroom was quoting Shakespeare, one classroom was discussing Christ's admonition to be as "wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves" and the contrast between Satan and the Holy Spirit. One classroom was going over US History, anther working on math. In their main auditorium they had booths set up for their science fair. We spent about an hour looking around and I was taking pictures like mad (with permission from the Principle, of course). He showed us a short video from the American Fork school. It was impressive. After it was over I turned to Karen and she had tears in her eyes. She said that I should move there so I could send my kids.

After the school we went to the Lied Discovery Children's Museum. It was rated in the top 50 in the US, so I was excited to visit. I took about 200 pictures. You gotta love digital cameras! There were a lot of experiments that were exactly like ones at the Exploritorium. My favorites were the grocery store, the green screen, the under five area, and the ball movers.
Ethan especially liked the green screen. He kept going back to it and playing soccer, or volleyball or hockey. Karen was surprised that they're weren't more people there. She said that usually when they go the place is packed with children from field trips.

We stayed until about 2 o'clock until the guys called to go home. We left for home after that and didn't get home until about 12:30 am. I think it was better for Ethan, since he got to sleep most of the way.

Puttin' on some miles

I wanted to take the kids to a museum we haven't been to before, so I found one in Davis that looked fun. However, when I checked the hours it didn't open until 2pm. WHAT!!? So, instead we drove all the way down to Stockton to the one Grandma took Elle to a few weeks ago. It was quite the drive. Meanwhile, Michael drove all the way up to Yuba to get some plans for a bid and talk to a city engineer. Our whole family were driving all over Northern California.

Elle's favorite part was the little play house in the babies area where she could pretend to make dinner. She wanted me to sit at the table so she could serve me dinner. Hunter wanted to play too, but she'd get mad if he'd take something that wasn't specifically given to him.

Hunter's favorite part was the police motercycle. It didn't make any lights or noise, but he liked to climb up and pretend to ride it.


Something that I really liked, but the kids only explored briefly was an area completely dedicated to the medical field. They had an X-ray area, Doctor's waiting room, Emergency room and Ambulance backed in. I thought it was a great idea! The kids weren't really interested so they moved on and didn't take much time to pretend other than trying out the gurney in the ambulance.





Another huge hit was the pretend grocery store complete with beeping checkout counter. Much of the bar coded merchandise was damaged and donated by Food 4 Less. There was a produce aisle, a bakery section, a meat cooler (all of the food was very high quality pretend...very realistic, too)

The kids would make rounds putting things in their baskets. Elle liked the pastry section the best, probably because it was the easiest to reach. After they would check out I would take the carts back around and put everything back were it came from.



There was also a news studio where the kids got to see themselves on TV. Ethan wanted to know if he would see himself later on the news, but I explaned that it was closed circuit system and we were the only ones watching.

Before we went home we stopped by the Arts and Crafts room. Of all the children's museums with such a thing, this was by far the best, most well stocked crafts room. Each of the children made a Valentine to give to Daddy. Ethan was highly critical of his work and kept starting over. Elle was most interested in pouring out as much glue as possible upon which I would sprinkle cut paper. Hunter made the most detailed Valentine, but what what most sweet is that he wanted me to write a message to Daddy that went, "For Daddy, I love him". I made a Valentine, too. My working on a project seemed to help keep the kids focused on completing a project, but Ethan just got more frustrated because his didn't look like he wanted it to.

We finished off the day at the paint wall, which was ....extreme. I'm not sure I like the look of layered paint. Even if it was done by kids. My favorite paint wall to date was the one in San Jose.

Elle's happy Birthday trip

The Princess is TWO today! Hurray! She's getting so big! It was also Martin Luther King Day, so we made a trip down to the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum .

I was SOO impressed. We've never been there before, but our neighbor said it was better than Disneyland. Well, that'll get your attention! I was not disappointed.



Elle sized table and play food. She loves to play Mommy!















Painting wall. They have one at Habitot, but this one was much better contained and didn't have the 3 inch thick old paint layers at the edges.




















Ethan got to participate in the music theatre















The sand experiment table complete with beakers, test tubes, balances and scales.
















Water play. This portion was completely AWESOME. Most children's museums have a water table but this wins hands down!














Kid sized Pizza parlor. The kids got to top their own pretend pizzas, serve it, ring it up, and put it in a life-like brick oven. Just as an sideline observer it looked something like a bustling hobbit pizzeria. They all tried so hard to be grown-up!

















This was an entire room dedicated to the ebb and flow off tennis balls and getting them to move through this system of wires, boxes, air blowers, centrifuges and tubes. It was a great experiment in physics.
















Pin wall. They have a horizontal one at the Exploritorium, but this one goes through both sides with a warning not to put your face up to it otherwise you might get an eye-full of pins. Yikes! One side was blue and the other red. Depending on which side was depressed you could make hand prints. The kids got a little exuberant and pins could come flying out at you surprisingly fast.
















The inside of a real ambulance that had been donated and child-proofed for the museum.














This is one portion of an entire bubble room. The floor was a mesh not suitable for high heels, but allowed any spilled bubble solution to drain without a slippery surface inviting accidents.














This must have been a replica. I can't imagine that they would have let an historical artifact experience the exuberance of childhood.