The Exploration Place

We went to Marian's again a couple weeks ago. We had planned on going to the zoo one day, but then it was rainy, so we went to the Exploration Place instead. We loved it!

The building itself is really neat. It sits in the middle of a river, kind of, and all of the outside walls are glass. It was really fun to be inside in a huge thunder storm.

There are different rooms with different sciencey things, like flight simulators, a wind wall, a tornado machine, bug collections, water and sand toys, building things, and on and on. There's also an amazing play room!

We all went in one car. Five kids in carseats!

Hmm. I wonder how my kids came away with colds?!

Mariah's favorite thing was the giant bubble.

Laney found this little log cradle and climbed right in.

There was a little "stream" with rubber ducks, shells, and frogs. It had little pour spouts and different things to do with water.

Mariah loves to build.

In the boat . . . .

Rub-a-Dub-Dub and Other Fun Things

I loved doing this as a kid. I tried it on my girls for the first time a few days ago. They thought it was great!


We gave Mariah a mirror to see herself. I was a little nervous that she'd have a come-apart because she's very particular about being beautiful ALL the time. But she laughed and laughed. She asks now to "be a clown" when she's in the bath.

Elaine requested all these headbands. They lasted 30 seconds (maybe).

My cool girls.

We've been sick for the past week or so (Well, Mike and the girls mostly; I had a mild case for a day). Poor Mariah has watched more Disney Playhouse in the last week than her whole little life put together. (She doesn't seem to mind).

A few days ago, I was tired of being cooped up, so despite the rain and runny noses, I and the girls went to the park. We tried out a park we'd never been to. It was great! And only a 5 minute drive! (We have zero parks within walking distance). There was a great playground (2 actually), a little lake, lots of ducks and geese, and some trails through forested areas.

After we played on the playground for a while, explored the dock, and chased the ducks, I asked the girls if they wanted to go for a little hike in the forest. Mariah immediately leaned forward, put her hands in front of her in claws, and said in a very drawn-out, spooky whisper, "It's the Black Forest!" Thank you Little Einsteins.

Just as we entered the forest, a large predatory bird (an owl maybe?) silently swooped down in front of us and glided along the trail for a while before disappearing around a bend. Maybe a little bit spooky.

We had walked for maybe 50 yards along the trail (I carrying Elaine, and Mariah walking along jabbering non-stop), when I spotted very large, very fresh-looking k-9 tracks in the mud. Hmm. I quickly decided I, alone with the girls, did not want to meet up with whatever made those tracks. I don't remember exactly what I told Mariah--something about big paw prints and a possibly dangerous animal. We turned around and high-tailed it out of there. Mariah did not seem concerned in the least and loved talking about (in the same drawn-out, suspense filled whisper, with her hands stretched into claws) the "dangerous animal paw prints." Thank you Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She told the story again (in the same voice with the same hands) to Mike at dinner that night.

I liked the park so much that we went back the next day with the stroller. There are miles of trail. I probably walked 3 miles or so before I finally decided we better get home and make dinner.

Another funny thing happened (only to me) in the forest. I just finished the last book of the Twilight series, and I was thinking to myself that this forest would be a perfect place for vampires and wolves. (I know. Nice thoughts to have while walking alone in a forest with 2 girls in a stroller. Although, the forest is really just a strip, maybe 50 yards wide, with houses on the east, and the park on the west, so it's not like I was really removed from civilization.) Anyway, I had just had some happy thoughts about vampires when I rounded a corner, and there on the ground (I'm not lying) was a set of fake vampire teeth. Very funny.

Finding Hope on 9/11

This is the story of a 9/11 survivor and his search for peace.