Fun At The Children's Museum ®

We took off on a road trip today and met up with Cousin Samantha and crew at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  This is a really great museum for children due to the number of hands on exhibits.  Before you go, check their website for coupons.  You can save a few dollars on admission.

The kids are allowed to put on lizard skins (with tail) and "sit" on the eggs.  Cassandra had other ideas but I'm not exactly sure what they were.

Samantha helped Cassandra dig for more fossils.  They had rubber-like beads glued together and the kids were supposed to scrape them off to reveal the fossils underneath.

They did allow you to get inside some of the dioramas via tunnels which were of course very popular with the little kids.  Judging by Mommy's smile, it was popular with big kids too.

And here is Cassandra in an action shot.  She just doesn't like the way the clay sticks to her hands.  She doesn't like the way chalk feels either and likes washing her hands.  Don't ask which side of the family that comes from.  There are two possibilities and it can't be proven either way.

Cassandra wants to drive.  On the right is a picture from her 18 month photo-shoot.  Notice the caption?

There were a couple of cars that caught Daddy's eye in the Hot Wheels® exhibit.  The first might be fun to drive but would have some horrible blind spots.

The second was this diamond covered car that was made for the Hot Wheels® 40th anniversary celebration.  It has nearly 3,000 blue diamonds, taillights made of red rubies, and an 18-karat gold body.  It would be a very pricey car to replicate in full size.

The last exhibit we looked at was this clock.  Seriously, this is a clock.  Very elaborate, no idea how accurate, but I could stand having something like this in my home.

Oh, outside the building has a brontosaurus that has stuck its head inside the building.  Cassandra was really impressed by the dinosaur.

I Like Popcorn

Cassandra is a little popcorn fiend.  She loves popcorn.  Of course, due to safety and sanitation reasons, we make sure she has her own bowl.  She thinks this is a sign that she is all grown up.  Still, you need to watch your popcorn when she finishes her bowl...

Fun Day At The Farmstead

As the Empress had requested, we made a trip out to the Farmstead.  She had fun at the barn, which is not a surprise considering the two story slides from the silo.

She was a bit wobbly on the rubber mats at the bottom through.

She had fun looking at various animals.  She really like the ducks because they swim in water (she likes water) and this little lamb that Mommy pointed out to her.

Cassandra likes to play with water (not just look at it) and bath time can be very wet for people who had not planned on a bath so we thought this pump would be right up her alley.  I think she would like one in the back yard.

Finally, we found another playground and this one had one of her favorite toys.

A Visit To The Arboretum

With the weather starting to become more tolerable, we decided that it was time for another outing to the Arboretum.  She really liked seeing the green butterfly.

The railroad garden was completely open with three trains running.

Cassandra was really excited to go up into the cupola of the caboose.  Her face lit up when she was asked, "Where's Mommy?"  She was happy to wave for Mommy and the camera.

Of course, when she saw the trains running down below, she forgot about her parents fairly quickly.

Oh, well.  I'm told this is typical for her age.

Old Settler's Day Parade

Given our past success with parades, we headed down to see Cousin Samantha and Aunt Cheryl actually in a parade.  Cassandra was enjoying all the different groups but she especially enjoyed the fire trucks, old cars, tractors and lawnmowers.  (Yes, you read that right.)  She also enjoyed watching all the dogs that people brought out with them to watch the parade...although I'm not sure the dogs really like some of the fire trucks!

  

  

We also saw a few dogs in the parade.  I'm amazed at how well behaved the dog on the float was.  Cassandra wanted to take him home with us.

Samantha's girl scout group was near the end of the parade.  I think she was more relieved to see us than we were happy to see her because she was tired after marching for over two hours and she knew we were at the end of the parade route. 

The event is billed as Kansas' Largest Parade and it has over 160 different groups.  Aside from your standard fare of local civic groups, politicians running for office, school groups like bands, church groups, there are a pretty good number of contractors of various types that put floats in the parade: pest removal contractors, door, window and siding contractors, and landscaping contractors.  One of the latter groups actually put together a lawnmower team!  I think most people have seen the Shriner's weaving their cars in and out.  Well, this group was doing the same with zero turn lawnmowers.  The Empress wanted to ride one.  I'm not sure how to explain that lawnmowers aren't really rides.

How To Blow Bubbles

For Memorial Day, Cassandra invited a bunch of the family over.  It was a nice day out so we thought about breaking out bottles of bubbles.  After a slow start (due to the age of the bubbles) Cassandra had a ball.  Cousin Samantha entertained Cassandra for quite a while.

Ah, for the carefree days of bubbles, back when my knees wouldn't fall asleep from squatting flatfooted.

Kylie's Birthday Party

We headed down I-35 for Kylie's birthday this weekend.  The road trip was not as easy as the last time.  For some reason, the Empress was not interested in taking a nap in spite of it being her usual nap time.  Mommy eventually got her down though.

When we arrived, they were about ready to setup the pinata.  I've always wondered about those.  Don't we spend enough time as parents telling kids not to hit stuff?  Anyway, the birthday girl gets first whack.  All the kids took turns, even little Cassandra.

"I'm done.  Something is not right here.  Let me watch the others and think about it."

"This is better.  Something longer and tougher."

The pinata turned out to be tougher than expected.  Note to self, don't use cardboard to reinforce a pinata unless you are trying to keep kids occupied for hours or want them to use real bats.  Eventually, Kylie called in reinforcements, AKA Daddy.

After we had opened the pinata, it was time for cake.  Well, cupcakes really.  Cassandra ate the whole cupcake herself.

After the party was over, we went back to Kylie's place.  Cassandra had fun playing with "boy" toys like the work bench, police SUV, fire truck, and geotrax trains.  I should probably note that the toys she was most interested in were Noah's.  With the exception of Legos, she really had no interest in any of Kylie's new toys.

Noah did his best to stay out of the way of all of the girls. 

Kylie also modeled her new dress and fashion accessories for us.

Finally, as everyone (but the kids) was getting tired, it was time to go.  We rounded them up for the traditional "family" picture we have been doing.  Kylie and Noah did a good job of sitting still but Cassandra was a real challenge.

Notice how Cassandra's feet haven't stopped moving?