Day Out with Dad

The slide is so much fun!

Sophie finally got a turn to drive the ambulance!

Abbie with the school bus scene.

This past week, our family headed to the Adventure Science Museum. We bought an annual pass a couple of months ago and Sophie seems to be at the age where they really start to enjoy it. Matt was able to get off work for a couple of hours and go with us. The girls loved climbing to the top of the tower with their daddy and then coming down the slide! Sophie always enjoys the area of the museum that is about the body too. She really enjoyed being able to "drive" the ambulance. Abbie got a turn too.! They also enjoy the area that's for younger kids. We're still trying to get Abbie potty trained though (boo!) and when she had a big accident at the museum, I decided we'd better head out. From there, we headed to Otter's for lunch. Then, Daddy had to go back to work. We enjoyed being able to do some special things together. =)

The Explorium

Here are the girls-ready for the Explorium to open.

Sophie trying out a stationery bike

Sophie's trying to make a huge bubble in the "bubble room"

silly Abbie-what kind of face are you making?

A few days before Memorial Day weekend, we travelled to Lexington, KY with Matt so that he could do some work there for a couple of days. We stayed in the Hyatt downtown which was nice because we could walk right across a little bridge to the Explorium, their children's museum. Our hotel had a wonderful breakfast buffet so we checked it out and then got ready for the Explorium. The main downside was that were tons of school groups. I was kind of disappointed with that because some of the kids were much older and NOT on their best behavior. Anyway, all in all we had an OK time there but in my opinion, Chattanooga has a better children's museum. They had a whole exhibit on horses, a bubble room which was pretty cool, a room filled with big blocks you could build with which the girls enjoyed and more. Some of the exhibits were kind of over their heads but it also had some of the typical stuff (water play, doctor play area, grocery, etc. There was also a food court within an indoor mall right by our hotel so that was very convenient since I didn't have a car. The girls enjoyed the indoor pool both afternoons we were there and we had it all to ourselves. =) While we were in the Lexington area, we were also able to get together with Matt's cousin, Mark, and his children. Their boys enjoyed playing with our girls but I didn't get that great of a picture. We had hoped that we might could visit the Kentucky Horse Park before heading on to eastern Kentucky but we woke up to a very rainy Friday. We'll just have to go back sometime!

Vacationing in VA

The girls are ready to fly away.

This week, we took Abbie on her first plane trip to visit Matt's family. Sophie is a very seasoned flier for a 3 year old, but it's been a long time since she's flown. We flew to North Carolina where Matt's parents met us at the airport, and we drove for two hours to Richmond, Va. Sophie had been so excited about the trip. She had packed her toothbrush in a travel toothbrush holder about three weeks ago, and we had to keep unpacking it every time we needed to brush her teeth at home.

The next day, Mimi took us to the Richmond Children's Museum. Sophie was excited to play in the grocery store and the kitchen at the museum. She also loved making some artwork. Abbie loved people watching (or kid watching) at the museum.

Abbie and Sophie coming out of their shells.

Thanksgiving weekend in VA

Sophie & Aunt "Eia" (Leia) on the slide

Sophie picking apples

Sophie in a soapbox derby car

In case you were wondering, no we didn't actually visit the North Pole over Thanksgiving. We just had a virtual visit. We actually drove up to Richmond, VA to visit Matt's immediate family. It was a very long drive considering that we had to make frequent bathroom stops for the mama-to-be. Sophie was a good traveller though and we had a great time with Matt's family. Both going and coming we split the trip up over 2 days which made it easier. We were very excited though to be able to pick up Matt's brand new company van just before we left town! =) It's kind of deep gray with a tinge of blue and it's a Toyota Sienna with a lot of cool features on it. Since it's a company car, Matt has to do the driving.

Sophie was very excited to get to play with lots of new toys that Mimi, Matt's mom, had gotten for her while garage saling. Sophie now pretty much has the entire Little People town. (I'll have to take a picture of her with all the stuff in our play room because we brought it home.) It was like Christmas came early for Sophie. Mimi had also gotten a play high chair and baby carrier at a garage sale so Sophie loved putting her baby in the high chair and feeding her. Sophie was very excited to see Mimi, Paw-paw Tom and especially Aunt "Eia". On Thanksgiving Day, it was very warm and so Matt & Leia took Sophie to a nearby playground and they had a lot of fun. We had a nice Thanksgiving spent with Matt's immediate family and a few family friends.

On Friday, although some Christmas shopping was done, we headed to the Richmond Children's Museum. It was really crowded but Sophie had a fun time. They had a play kitchen and grocery store, water play area, big playground, apple picking area, and much more. Santa Claus was also there but there was an hour long wait. We saw Santa later at the mall but Sophie was excited about the concept of seeing him but then too scared to get too close. All in all, we had a very nice Thanksgiving.