Today I had a date day with Joshua. I decided to take him to the children's museum in Topeka.We had not been here before and it was a great facility with a ton to do. The first thing we did was this series of vacuum tubes that you put a soft ball in and it would suck it up and shoot it out. He thought that was pretty cool.
Next there was an area where you could build a structure with pipes and then turn on air to shoot ping pong balls through them (he loves things that shoot). This was especially fun because the way we built it, the ball would float there.
We briefly looked at a few science exhibits, but he was only slightly interested. He was mostly like, "Stop talking about black lights and conductors". So after that we went outside. The outdoor component of this place was truly amazing.
First he rode some bikes. They had several different ones, including some trikes large enough for adults, though I didn't try them out. I was glad he got to try a balance bike because I had been thinking about getting him one. Unfortunately, he hated it so I guess I can cross it off my list. He wasn't sure why it wouldn't have pedals and actually seemed kind of distressed about it. He had more fun on a trike he chose.
Next, we stopped by the musical garden. He liked this area a lot because he got to hit a lot of things with sticks and it was actually encouraged. And he likes making music, so it was a good fit for his interests.
Not quite as good of a fit as the water area, though. He loves water and this water area had rocks that he threw to watch them splash and toys and ducks you could put in the stream and watch them get sent down to the pond with the current. Of course, even though I told him 42 times to try not to get wet except for his feet and to be careful, he ended up soaked.
By this time I was getting pretty hot since I was not soaked and it was in the high 90s. But I wanted him to have a chance to dry off before we went back into the ac, so we checked out the playground area. This was mostly natural equipment with a tree house and lots of opportunities for swinging and jumping and climbing and balancing.
We went back inside and Joshua had fun scooping and playing with these tiny rocks. It had a whole system of pulleys and a grain elevator and everything. And then he did the painting station where kids can paint on glass.
We wrapped up our visit in the wood shop, which has real tools so does require adult assistance, unlike most of the things to do here. We made a very simple wooden car and he really liked hammering. We also did a little bit of sawing and used a hand drill, though those require a bit more strength and dexterity so he was more excited about hammering. I gave him his choice of lunch and he was very specific that he wanted a "cheeseburger, fries, and a toy" so we went to McDonalds. I tried to get him to go for tacos, but no dice.
We had a really fun date day. The children's museum turned out to be such a great facility, that I immediately bought a family membership there even though it is just over an hour away from our house. I am such a baby about driving that I am usually extremely hesitant to drive more than 10, possibly 20 minutes if I am feeling very ambitious. Like I really like Trader Joes. I very rarely go because it's 20 full minutes away. In fact, I was really not sure I was willing to drive to Topeka in the first place and the only reason I did was because it was so darn hot I really couldn't think of anything else to do. I am really glad we went and now that I know how awesome it is, I think we will definitely come out ahead on the membership, especially when it's cold and I am cursing Kansas and wondering what to do with my children on the 20th consecutive day of it being too cold to go to the park.
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