Children's Museum

Dakota came home from school last year with a free family pass to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum.  I couldn't believe the pass was for the whole family.  Dakota waited patiently all summer long for the day we had chosen to go to the museum.  I wish we lived closer because that place is amazing and I would love to take the kids more often.  I wasn't sure what to expect but was thrilled with what they offered.  Dakota had fun going from activity to activity.  I don't think she stayed at one place for more than 5 min.  It was perfect for her.  Lizzie had fun watching the two little ones run around, which is what CJ and I did too.  Rebecca didn't go because she wanted to go boating with the YM/YW.  She had fun boating so it all worked out. 

Here are only a few of the million pictures I took.

I absolutely loved watching Megan in their kid sized town.  They had a house, farm, store, water area, post office, gas station, and more all kid sized and full of detailed items used in the real world.  I just let Megan go and watched as she went shopping at the store, filling her basket with all kinds of food, "bought" it at the checkout, took it to the home, and put it all away in the cupboards and fridge.  Then she cooked and cleaned and made drinks for everyone in the kitchen before going back to the store and doing it all over again.  She was so serious as she went along.  She just loved playing the grown-up and I just loved watching her do it. 

We signed up for one of their hands on science classes and were excited to learn that the science lesson for that day was making ice cream.  The only sad part was that Xander couldn't eat the ice cream and I really wanted to give him some.

Xander's favorite exhibit was the real helicopter on the roof.  He got to sit in the cockpit and "fly" and he couldn't stop smiling.  You'll notice though that he did get a little tired of his picture being taken because by this point every time I asked him to say cheese he gave me a "raspberry" instead.

After the museum we went walking down the Gateway mall which is a huge outdoor mall in the heart of down town Salt Lake City.  It was really fun to see "city life" as there were apartments over the shops, musicians on street corners, and all kinds of people just hanging out.  It was like something out of a movie.  They have a water fountain that has a music show every half hour so we let the kids play in the fountain while we waited for the show.  On a side note, while it was fun to play in the fountain the show was disappointing.

I can't wait until the next time I can take the kids.