Like a Kid in a Candy Store

Mike was able to take a four day weekend and we LOVED having him here!  Yesterday we planned a day in Springfield. 

First up was the Springfield Discovery Center.  We LOVE that place.  It's the perfect mix of science, learning, and imaginative play.

And for the first time, the kids actually kind of cared about the dinosaur digging exhibit!  I want to play every time we go, but so far they haven't cared about it.  But they did this time!  For about 2 minutes!  And Emily even wore the hat!  :) 

 

One of their absolute favorite sections is the store.  It's so cute and then the kids can check each other out.  There was a mom checking out her kid's groceries, and Emily just got in line and had her do hers as well.  It was pretty cute.

 

Three words: Life-sized Operation Game.

(Four words?)

We removed the appendix and talked about how they had done that to Grandma.  Andrew then told me that I should leave the intestines.  "You need them, and plus they're my favorite part of the body."

 

This just in!  Yesterday afternoon, two young children made their debut as newscasters.  They covered such important topics as "there's a camera over there" and "that's my seat."

 

 

They already have a die-hard fan.

 

 Speaking of this little guy, at the light table, he picked up a star and proceeded to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  One of the other kid's moms heard him and said, "OH MY GOSH, that is the cutest thing I've ever heard."  I had to agree.

 

Mike and Andrew put on a play.  Mostly Andrew's pig told jokes while Mike's chipmunk tried to let the pig give him a ride around the stage.  My little ones thought it was hilarious, and a random kid heard the laughter and came in to watch.

 
Emily built a volcano.

 

Then we went to lunch at the Chinese restaurant.  I wasn't too excited about that choice, but there were more than one set of tears shed when we said maybe we could eat something different.  And it was just fine.  I was happy to make them happy, and I knew what was coming next.

These.  The candy store.  YUM.

As you can imagine, the kids were super excited about an entire store full of sugary goodness.

 

The kids each got to choose a 4 pieces of candy, and Mike and I got some sour candies.  I got grapefruit and watermelon gummies (I wish they had the pink grapefruit ones, because I really REALLY love those.)  Mike got a mix and I discovered too late how AMAZING the cherry ones were.

As difficult as it was to keep a sugar crazed Charlie from diving headfirst into one of the bins, it was so fun to see the utter happiness that exuded from these little guys.

 

Then Emmie slipped in the parking lot and landed in a big puddle of oil.  So I cleaned her up and changed her clothes.

 

Guess who chose chocolate footballs for her treat?  She had eaten maybe half of one when I looked back and saw this: 

And although it doesn't seem like it, she was having a great time.

 

We all did, actually!