I heart my camera.

During Spring Break, I thought I was being a nice mom to let the kids have friends over and just play all day, but it didn't take long until I heard, "I'm bored! There's nothing to do!" So I decided to take all 4 kids on an hour and a half drive to Rochester to try out The Strong National Museum of Play.

It was worth the drive. An excellent children's museum that we could have spent all day in and not have done it all. I wanted to blog about it earlier, but can you believe I forgot to bring my camera?! I bought a disposable one when we got there and then had to wait days to get the pictures developed only to realize I am not a good photographer without my nice camera that does it all for me!

So unfortunately I don't really have many pictures to share with our story. I really need to get in the habit of taking that with me wherever I go if I'm going to document our life in pictures! :) When we got there we took a ride on the nearly 100 year old carousel that is right inside the door. I wish I'd had my camera to take pictures of the teeny little stationary horses it had on it for the littlest kids to ride. Also in the entry there is a HUGE gift shop/toy store, a 50's diner car and a food court that includes Subway, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc. I think the kids were sold on the place as soon as they stepped in and of course Kobe kept asking for a Webkinz! Not a chance on that one Kobe! Admission was $9.50 for me and $7.50 per kid. I probably should have gotten the membership which would have almost paid for itself after one more trip... oh well.

Anyhow- this place was so big- so open too which is nice to not have the kids on top of each other & trying to squeeze through the crowds.

We first went into the Field of Play. Really neat things to try out. We loved the slanted house which made us all dizzy and left me feeling a little nauseous with a headache the rest of the day. I wish I had pictures of these cool things in there like the exaggerated perspective house. Also there was the shadow play area where you see a "ball" bouncing across the wall. (It reminded me of the old Pong game.) The kids could hit the "ball" (actually hitting the wall) and the "ball would bounce back to the other side. Very cool stuff.

We went into the Sesame Street area and Jackson got a little star struck. There's Big Bird looking out of the window and there's the front steps to 123 Sesame Street! Disposable cameras are awful!

{this is what it really looks like}

Elmo's World could've kept Jackson happy all day. You could open the window to see Mr. Noodle and his brother, Mr. Noodle. You could see Dorothy in her fish bowl. You could play on Elmo's computer.

You could even video tape your self "on TV" with Elmo or some other Sesame Street friends.

They had a lot of nostalgic Sesame Street things there for me,but also the latest Sesame Street computer games to play with for the kids.
Wegmans had a grocery store there (the containers were empty of course). The kids got to go shop for 5 items with their little carts, go check themselves out at the register, take their real Wegmans receipt, and then restock their items. It took Kobe a while to decide exactly which 5 items he wanted to "buy."

There was a special exhibit there called "Grossology" based on the books about how our bodies function. The yuckiest part was called Y U Stink. You had to match the body odors with the parts of the body they come from: mouth, armpits, lower intestines, and feet. So gross. The museum website has a funny warning about this exhibit... PLEASE NOTE: Words such as “snot,” “boogers,” “barf,” “puke,” and “fart” appear in Grossology.

The kids had a good time with it anyway!

The museum has the largest collection of toys in row after row of display cases I have ever seen. I took a picture of the Intellivision I saw there for my sisters, but it didn't turn out. A little blast from our past.

I would've liked to spend a of of time looking at all of that, but it bored the kids to death so we moved on.

The Toy Hall if Fame had lots of classic toys for the kids to try out. Jackson enjoyed the big magnetic Mr Potato Head. The big kids played with the Slinkys. The all posed in the Lincoln Logs house.

We spent some time in Reading Adventureland. The whole place feels like you walked into some of your favorite classic books. The museum is actually a branch of the local library, so you can check out books you find there. Kobe and Jackson climbed Jack's Beanstalk, played in the giant's castle, in the gingerbread house, and the pirate ship. The girls enjoyed the detective and wizards areas. Everyone made a magic wand to take home with them.

There was plenty more to see- like the butterfly garden- that we didn't get to because everyone was getting cranky from fatigue and hunger. We took one last stop to ride the little train, grab a snack at the gift shop for the ride home, and take the last picture on the camera outside in front of the building. All smiles were forced by this time. Reagan's face actually shows everyone's true feelings by this time of the day!

Overall a good visit to a new place. At least I did one special thing with them over Spring Break!We'd like to go back sometime if anyone wants to go with us. Next time I will NOT forget my camera!