The Touching Museum

A few months ago, Vincie and I found a deal for half price tickets to the Please Touch Museum. We hadn't been since our membership expired about a year ago, and we wondered if the boys, especially Tyler, were getting a little old for it, but we bought the tickets and planned our trip. A few weeks before we went, Rudy asked me out of the blue when we could go back to the "touching" museum. He didn't know I had purchased the tickets, so I took it as a good sign.

First stop was the water play. The kids didn't last here for very long.



Then we headed to the room where the activity changes regularly. This display was all about accessibility - you could type in braille, pedal a bike with your hands, and practice using a wheelchair.



The carousel was next - always a favorite.

Then we wandered down to the Alice in Wonderland area. Rudy, Tyler and Noah had fun running through and pretending the queen's guards were after them. Here they try to fight one of them.

Rudy was very much into the costume aspect this trip. Here he dressed up as "a card" to paint. I actually thought I lost him here because of the costume. I was watching him, Tyler and Noah (Vincie had the other 2 kids), I looked away from Rudy for a second to see Tyler and Noah and when I looked back, I didn't see Rudy. Tyler and Noah headed over to where Rudy had just been so I told them I had to find Rudy. He turned around and said, "I'm right here." In the time I had looked away, he put this costume on. When I turned back, I just looked for the orange shirt he had been wearing.

Posing with the Philly Phanatic.

Taking a lunch break.

This was Rudy's favorite area. He could have played here all day. Once again, he had to dress the part. He moved 'bricks' from one area to the other and put them on and off the conveyor belt.

Paging Dr. Sean!

The hospital was yet another are where the boys were really focused on their jobs. The three of them sat around this baby and took care of it for a long time.

One of the last areas we went was to the space section. Rudy is dressed up in a lab coat and looking a bit like a mad scientist. I think he scared a little girl playing near him by looking at her like this.

And then he added the astronaut's helmet to the costume.

He could stand in front of a blue screen and be on the TV screen. I had to take a picture of him, since he couldn't see it and be on it at the same time.

Overall, the boys had a lot of fun, and could have stayed a lot longer. Vincie and I both had to work, and scheduled this trip based on past trips, where the boys ran through and saw everything in a short time. Next time we'll have to allow more time.

Windy Cleanup and Cloudy Walk

Saturday we attended the spring clean up at our local wildlife refuge. It was cold and windy and dreary. There were a lot of people there, and by some miracle, there was not much trash, so we didn't spend too much time in the cold. This picture is us with another person from our church who participated with us (her husband took the picture).


Yesterday, I made plans to meet a friend and her daughter. Rudy and Sanai haven't seen each other since his party, but they had fun at Smithville.
Racing motorcycles.

Playing video games.

BFFs

Chasing a rooster.

Closing up a door that was left open (then we made them open it again in case it was left open for a reason!).

Rudyisms

Rudy was looking at a sale circular that had pictures of bikini bathing suits all over the cover. He was so excited to point it out tme, "Mom. Look. It's like what you wear, only it's waterproof so you can wear it to the beach!" I had laid Rudy's clothes for church out on his bed. He came down at one point to show me he was able to take something hanging in the closet AND get it off the hanger. He was so proud of himself. I noticed then that he had sweat pants on and I told him he couldn't wear sweatpants to church. He said he didn't like what I had picked out, so I told him he could choose something else, just no sweat pants. I heard him start down a few minutes later and I could hear the rustle of athletic pants- so I had to go help him pick out proper clothes! In the car discussing dinner plans, Rudy says, "I'm not going to have dinner, just dessert." I laughed and said, "I don't think it works that way." His response was, "It does work that way if I do something nice for you." Rudy came home excited to tell us that he got to use the "bounce-o-line" at school.

Playground Weather

Since the nice weather has surfaced, we have spent a lot of time at the local playgrounds. Rudy can almost go over the monkey bars. He can hang on and move his hand once or twice before he drops.

This was a curvy ladder he had to climb to get to the top of the structure.

King of the world

Comtemplating his next move.

Not Just for Birthdays

On Friday we met with Vincie, Noah and Sean. Our original plan was o go o The Please Touch Museum, but Tyler got a better offer, so we decided to save that trip until he could go with us. Our backup was a trip to Chuck E. Cheese - early in the morning when it is not crowded is a great time to go. Then we headed to the nearby mall for lunch and shopping. Very seriously driving a boat.

Noah and Rudy did this ride about 5 times in a row. It simulated a roller coaster and some other things. Sean rode the first time but then was done.

The view from above the ride where you can see their facial expressions.

A Strange Fish

On our way to swim lesson the other day we encountered this strange fish - funny goggles, sweat pants and sandals.

Busy Weekend

I'm exhausted just thinking about all we did this weekend. Paul left Saturday morning to go to his basketball team's finals, so Rudy and I were on our own. We started our Saturday morning with a road clean up. Rudy was very helpful at first, bu then he just wanted to explore. Thank goodness the road we cleaned has several yards of woods along the side, so Rudy had plenty to explore while we cleaned. After the road cleanup, we went to a local home store for a building project. Rudy made a planter. He hasn't decided yet if he wants to paint it or not. Then we'll eventually fill it with flowers. He really enjoys using the hammer, so I think this will definitely become a monthly activity. We had to make a few brief shopping stops, then headed home for lunch. Later in the afternoon, Rudy went to a birthday party at our church or the priest's daughters. This inflatable bouncy was set up inside, because the ground outside was pretty wet.

There was also a magic show that all the kids got to participate in.

And the magician and his wife made balloon toys for all the kids - here Rudy demonstrates his sword play.

After the party we went home and I cooked dinner for a friend from church who recently had surgery and we delivered the food and visited for a few minutes. Then we came home for dinner, TV time and bed. Rudy didn't seem as tired as he should have been, but I think I was sleep on the couch by about 9:30.

Sunday morning we left early to go to Paul's basketball finals. It was at a shore town by the beach and boardwalk, so after the first game, Rudy and wasted time by walking on the boardwalk and the beach.

What better thing to do with sand than to throw it in the water.

Checking out the tracks in the water - he was being a secret agent and we followed tire tracks down the beach.

Rinsing off his hands.

Getting a little closer. I was prepared for him to get wetter (see the blog post about camping in October), so I had an extra set of everything in the car, but he didn't want to go any farther in than this, so we only had to change socks and shoes later.

Guess where Rudy wants to come back to? See the dragon coming though the ceiling?

After our loooong walk on the boardwalk and beach (almost 2 hours), we had lunch and then went to watch the team play their last game. Paul's team finished up with the silver medal, and we headed home.