Snowy Spring Break Giveaway

It's March 25th-- first day of spring break-- and we woke up to about 3-4 inches of snow. It's amazing how beautiful and exciting the snow was a few weeks ago, but how insulting it is now that it's spring. And spring break, nonetheless. We were supposed to leave for the North Carolina beach yesterday but put it on hold in part because of the weather. I think we may postpone for another day now...

Anyway, it's a good morning to do a few Playseum giveaways. It looks like spring break this year will be spent primarily indoors. The Playseum is an awesome sponsor of this blog. I'll give away three sets of two passes to the Playseum. Leave a comment below and make sure you've liked my Facebook page to enter. I'll do a drawing around noon or one o'clock today so I can send out the passes in the mail this afternoon and the winners can use their passes this week!

Don't know what the Playseum is? Here's their website. My boys and I love the place. It has two locations- in DC by Eastern Market right by the metro stop, and in Bethesda.

Some readers have been having problems entering a comment here. If you're having a problem, just leave a comment on my Facebook page and I'll enter you.

We're Celebrating the Museum!

Today we visited the National Air and Space Museum- the Udvar-Hazy location. It was the first time we'd gone during their storytime, and I was pleased with it. They do storytimes more often at the downtown location, but it looks like most Fridays this month they have storytimes at the Udvar-Hazy museum.

Before we left to go the museum with my friend Susan and her kids, the boys put on their flight suits and begged to wear them. "Mom, we need to wear them because we're celebrating the museum!" they explained to me. All I could think of at first was that flight suits would mean another layer, but I let them wear the suits, hoping there wouldn't be an issue with needing to shed four layers including a one-piece flight suit in a second's time in the museum bathroom.

The story we heard was a cute one about a Mousetronaut and they did little art projects with popsicle sticks and space shapes. Afterward they got to hold astronaut food, touch an astronaut suit, try on a glove, and see an astronaut's diaper. The kids all enjoyed it.

They've always liked the museum, but today they were the most excited they've ever been about being there. They ran around showing their friend Philip the candy cane airplane and Space Shuttle Discovery. Clark pointed out that it looks like Discovery has ears when you see it from a distance.The glass elevator was a space shuttle blasting off. Oftentimes they were Jack and Jim, Apollo 13 astronauts, getting ready for space.  They talked the ear off a volunteer who showed them pictures from when a Buzz Lightyear toy went into space. One of the tour guides pointed out to his group as we walked by that today we were fortunate to have two real astronauts here. The tourists were delighted, and snapped pictures of the boys as they walked by, oblivious to the fact that what they were wearing was a little unusual (and about a size too small).

I love so much that embarrassment is something they haven't experienced yet. I wish it could be that way forever.

A flight suit just like ours!

I'm not really sure what's happening here...

Story!

Astronaut glove!

Clark and Philip check out the astronaut gear.

Push the buttons...

We love airplanes!

The Apollo 13 astronauts are blasting off on their mission!

Here is my review of the museum from last year.    

Seems Like a Playseum-y Day

Today made me think that I wish I lived a little closer to the Playseum. It's rainy and cold and the boys would love to play there for a few hours. Then I thought, I have these passes because the Playseum is an awesome sponsor of my blog...so, respond here or on Facebook (and like my Facebook page for more giveaways,etc.) for 4 free passes to the Playseum. There's a location in DC and Bethesda. 

The boys and their artwork from our last Playseum visit

PLAY WORK BUILD

Last week we spent time at the new exhibit for kids and families at the National Building Museum. It's called PLAY WORK BUILD. There are several small display boxes of tiny block structures, some of them old building blocks of cities and towns, but the bulk of the exhibit is a hands-on celebration of blocks, and building. There are the familiar Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys, but most of the blocks are made of bright blue foam in different shapes and sizes, including tubes. There is a big light table for building the smaller blocks, and a huge padded area for the bigger blocks in the exact same shapes as the small ones. You can even build into the wall itself.

The last part of the exhibit is an interactive screen. As kids move in front of sensors, their outlines are projected onto the wall. When they stop, virtual blocks form the shape that their body is in. They can also run straight at a virtual wall of blocks and their motion will knock the blocks over. It's completely amazing to me.

The boys absolutely loved the exhibit. I'm sure their tummies had to have been rumbling by the end, but they still did not want to leave, and neither did the girls we came with. Too bad my boys have a pregnant mom who has to eat something every hour or she'll pass out.

This was a big hit with my three year-olds. If you make the trip, which I highly recommend, plan to spend a couple hours there.

The only thing I wish was included in the exhibit is patterns for various structures. You can tell that there are so many possibilities out there for what can be built with these great shapes, but I think laminated patterns for bridges and stadiums and robots would add a whole new level of fun and learning. Maybe I'm just not creative enough. There were some pictures of structures people had made in the past, but it was pretty hard to tell exactly how they were built.

For more information about the concept and vision for the exhibit, read this.

PLAY WORK BUILD gets 5 SHOUTS from me!

Clark's "Nats Park"



Cal works on building his train.

The kids' "castle"  

A leaping castle guard

Clark, setting up his "football" to launch through his "goal posts"

Peek-a-blue!

Clark interacting with the giant screen

A block so big you can sit inside it? Yes, please!

Denver Shouts

On our trip to Idaho we were able to spend two days and three nights in the wonderful, mile-high city of Denver. We stayed with a friend and her somewhat temperamental but adorable cat, Harrison, and also met up with a couple other friends in the city. We were able to pack quite a few things into the couple days without it seeming like we were running around like crazy tourists.

Children’s Museum of Denver: We met up with a friend, her husband, and their little girl at the Children’s Museum of Denver. We had a blast at the Richmond Children’s Museum at the beginning of the year and we love the Playseum in Washington, DC too. So the bar was high in my mind as far as children’s museums go. This one was no different. In fact, I think it might have to be my favorite of the three, and we didn’t even cover everything while we were there. The boys loved climbing in the old firetruck with their firefighter gear on. The bubble room was fantastic. Kids and parents can make and pop all kinds of bubbles. There are small safety glasses to keep the bubbles out of little eyes as they experiment with bubbles of various sizes and shapes. In one spot you could even make a giant, rectangular bubble around yourself by pulling on a rope! The art room was well-run and set up perfectly. Calvin was in heaven, since he considers himself an impressionist artist. At one point he was painting the same picture with both hands at once. What I was most impressed by was the recycling station. There was something similar at the Richmond’s Children’s Museum, but this was above and beyond. At these stations, at which adult supervision is needed probably for all kids, but especially for kids under 10, there are real tools and blueprints for various projects. Most of the materials are recycled objects—egg cartons, cereal boxes, toilet paper tubes, etc. The boys and I modified a soda bottle boat blueprint and made little sail boats. Unfortunately it was lunchtime and we had a couple of hungry and tired boys, otherwise we would have explored even more of the museum. Next time we’re in Denver I hope to find more time to spend at the museum.

5 SHOUTS!

Firefighters!

Artists

Ceiling fan artist

In the giant bubble!

Pop!

Bubble engineer

The recycling/construction area

Sailboats!

These blueprints were organized by difficulty 

Hammond’s Candy Factory: While looking online for factories to tour, I came across Hammond’s in Denver. First off, the kids got little paper hats to wear and then we were ushered into a room to watch a movie about the history of the company. It’s a pretty cool story of a family-run business that started small and has since grown, but all of the candy is still handmade. Seems like we learned most of what we needed to know, and were able to see more of the process in the video than we could on the tour. What I learned that I didn’t want to know was the amount of corn syrup and sugar that goes into each of their batches of each of their candies. Gross. Didn’t make me want to eat any of it. Our guide was scattered and extremely hard to follow as she was showing us what was going on in the factory. There are only a couple windows to look through, and not much was going on by the windows. We did get to see a huge red and white candy roll get stretched out and turned by hand into candy canes, which was cool. At the end of the tour the kids get to dig through a bin of “oops” candies—broken pieces of wrapped lollipops and candy canes—to pick out one piece to take home. That was about the only thing geared toward kids. Everything else was the guide was saying was over their heads. At the end of the tour we were conveniently briefed on the various sales going on and ushered into their store full of beautiful candy. Overall, this tour is not terribly interesting, especially for kids. At least the tour was free, so we didn’t feel like we’d lost anything. I do not recommend taking the time to go on this tour.

2 SHOUTS

Peering little candymakers 

Workers hand-twisting candy canes

Fourth of July candy display

Wings Over theRockies—Denver’s Air and Space Museum We thought about going to the aquarium, but didn’t think we had enough time to make it worth the cost, so we found Wings Over the Rockies, the Denver air and space museum. The boys love space, so we thought this would be a safe bet. We live by the Udvar-Hazy SmithsonianAir and Space Museum, which we absolutely love, and it seems like it would be hard to top—they have the space shuttle Discovery for crying out loud. The cool and unusual thing about Wings Over the Rockies is that you can touch almost everything. You can walk under some of the planes, and in a B-1A plane you can put your head inside the bomb bay and see pretend, to-scale models of atomic bombs. They also have manikins dressed in period garb by some of the planes, which was mostly cool and only creepy a couple times. There’s one of the actual X-Wing Fighters used in the Star Wars movies that is autographed by some of the actors and production crew. A mock-up for a proposed space station model was donated by the creators after the model was rejected. You can’t go in it, but you can look inside. The museum is in an old hangar so there is a lot of space for kids to run around, which is one thing we love about Udvar-Hazy as well. This was a surprise find, and one that I highly recommend to anyone visiting Denver, even if you don’t have kids.

5 SHOUTS!

Rotating display in the entryway that they boys loved

A museum employee gave the boys little model airplanes.

The sides were removed to show the engine.

Wheels, Clark for scale

Bomb bay of the B-1A

Model passenger plane

Touch and look!

Star Wars souvenir

Colorado Rockiesbaseball game: The boys love baseball and they did well at the one Nationals’ game we’ve gone to this year, so we took them to a Rockies vs. Nationals game at Coors Field. By the time we bought tickets there were only the more expensive ones or the $4 cheap seats—a section called the Rockpile way out in centerfield. We opted for the cheap ones and came a little early to stand by the Nats dugout, toting the boys in their Nationals garb. They were excited to get to see some of the players they know up close and personal. Then we headed to our seats, where the boys were not all that involved in the game since we were far away. They were also extremely active, so it wasn’t a super pleasant experience. Also the Nationals lost, so that was a bummer. I recommend paying a bit more and buying closer seats. And if your kids don’t like baseball, don’t go. If you can leave your kids with someone else and if you like baseball, it’s a nice park to watch a game, and has a beautiful view of the city.

3 SHOUTS (with 3 year olds)

The few times Cal wanted to sit down, he wanted to sit by himself
for some reason.

Our first time seeing Stephen Strasburg...unimpressive unfortunately

No wonder they didn't care about the game, right? Check out the view.

At least Scratchy and Smoochie enjoyed the romantic view.

There are a lot of outdoor things to do around Denver, but they are more fitting for older kids. Hopefully next time we can take advantage of those. If you're in Denver and have other insights on fun things to do with kids-- I'd love to hear them!

Louisville Slugger Factory, Louisville, Kentucky

While planning this road trip, I came across a helpful index of US factory tours. One of the ones I found listed as a favorite was the Louisville Slugger baseball bat factory in Louisville, Kentucky. I dismissed the idea because I knew Kentucky was certainly not on the way to Idaho. 

When Brian asked why we couldn’t take a detour to see it, I looked on a map and saw that it was only a two hour drive south of Indianapolis, which was our second night’s destination. I figured in the mileage and it wouldn’t be too bad of a setback, especially for how cool it sounded and for how into baseball the boys (and we) are. So we told the boys about it and it quickly became the destination that, other than Gramma and Papa’s, they talked about the most before we left.  

So, after our night at Margo’s, a delicious Margo’s-mom (This is what the boys call her, not what I call her) breakfast, and a morning jog with Margo, we headed down south from Indianapolis and into Louisville. We easily saw the gigantic bat on the side of the old building downtown from blocks away.

Ready to hit the factory

While we waited for the tour, we visited a room that seems to serve as a type of baseball park graveyard. There are pictures of dozens of old ballparks that have since been laid to rest—parks like Candlestick Park, the Metrodome(Go Twinks!), and the Kingdome(Go M’s!) are framed and mounted on the walls. There are also bats signed by entire World Champion teams. I was happy and a little nostalgic to see the 1991 Twins bat. As an 11 year-old at the time, I was quite obsessed with the World Series that year, thanks to my baseball-loving, Minnesota Dad.

The tour itself is about half an hour and takes you right through the working factory. Our tour guide, Valerie, was an excellent leader and dedicated baseball-lover. You get to see the life of a bat, from tree to finished product. There are helpful videos that supplement the tour guide’s speaking, and even though the factory is loud, there is a microphone for her at each stop, and the TVs are turned up plenty loud enough to hear. We got to see the shelves used for the bats that Major League players order. (Major League players go through around 80-100 bats per season!) Photography inside the actual factory is prohibited, so I have no pictures from inside.

Outside there is a museum with a lot to see and do and touch. You can see what a 90 mile-an-hour pitch looks like, watch videos about baseball players and history, and there are a ton of bats to touch and stories and facts to read. (Of course I didn’t tear up watching the one about Ken Griffey Jr.!) We got to touch bats signed by Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench (while an attendant also held it, and while we wore batting gloves). The lifelike statues were a little creepy, but mostly cool. 

Scratchy and Smoochy hanging out in the dugout

Clark uses a 32oz bat like a hockey stick

Mickey Mantle's bat, handle with batting gloves!

Loved the tour!

The Great Bambino and the little bambinos

Smoochy, Scratchy, and Derek 

Ken Griffey, Jr.!

Watching 90 mile-an-hour pitches 

Ceiling decor

Cal Jeter

Bat trees!

We were surprised to see a couple placards about Bryce Harper being hit by Cole Hamel’s pitch a couple months ago. Guests can vote about whether or not hitting Harper was acceptable behavior and whether or not his suspension was warranted. (Um, no it was not acceptable, yes his suspension was warranted, and yes it was flippin’ awesome when Harper stole home after being beaned on purpose.)

After the main museum displays we found the kids’ area where the boys decorated bat nubs (pieces cut off bats before they’re finished) and hit off a tee for probably close to an hour. We caught up with Tour Guide Valerie, who went and found a bat with a Nationals’ W on it for the boys, and we spent time talking about her plans and dreams for expanding the kids’ area of the museum. She also wants to start a baseball day camp program for little kids. If you’re in the area, keep that in mind for next season.

So. If you’re considering driving through or somewhat near Louisville and your kids like baseball, you must see this place. It was worth the detour.

5 SHOUTS!

Decorating bat nubs

Swung on and belted!!

National League East...woot woot! Nats!

To read my other road trip reviews, go here.