We had an excellent start to our Spring Break! Thursday night we celebrated my dad's 52nd birthday with Chicago style pizza and cupcakes decorated by the minis.
Friday morning we woke up, went to Scratch Cupcakery for an early treat, and enjoyed the Science Center. Last month Max missed out on his class field trip to the Science Center. All of his classmates got on the noon news (a local newscast broadcasts live from the Science Center every week day during the noon news) and he was sorely disappointed to miss out. The whole reason we went to the Science Center on Friday was so he could have his chance to be on. Thankfully his Spring Break wish came true! Then we explored a few exhibits we haven't seen in a while.
I had to laugh watching all of the kids get ready for their television debut.
We hadn't been to the Small Discovery area in a few months. The kids played in the grocery area for a long while until they got too hungry for lunch. From the Science Center, we picked up sandwiches and went to a park to have a late picnic lunch.
Elizabeth fell down as soon as we got out of the minivan. She then acted as if her leg was broken the rest of the day.
We had the entire playground to ourselves (minus the guy shooting hoops at the basketball court). We picked a good park to play at! South Karen Acres Park (in Urbandale, IA) is small but there's rarely more than one or two kids playing at one time.
After the park we went home to rest for a bit before we were off to dinner at our fave BBQ joint and to run our errands for the weekend.
On Saturday the minis and I went on a road trip to the Children's Museum in Coralville, IA. I was a bit nervous to make the two hour drive by myself, but the kids did fantastic both there and back. Our DVD system was a lifesaver and some of the features of our new minivan made the drive easy, comfortable, and safe.
After arriving in Coralville, lunch was on our minds. We all had slightly different things for lunch. Elizabeth and I indulged in Chick Fil A, the boys split a foot long sandwich from Subway, and then decided they were still hungry. They spotted a Cuban restaurant in the food and instantly wanted to try their tamales and plantains. It was excellent! If you're ever at Coral Ridge Mall, be sure to stop by Havana in the food court and try some delicious homemade Cuban food.
The boys love tamales.
The kids absolutely LOVED the Children's Museum! We've been once before two years ago. It was fun to experience it now that they're a bit older as they could do more of the activities. I expected to be at the Museum for a couple of hours tops, but we wound up staying for four hours.
Playing in the "post office."
"We have this cash register at my school! I'm just going to take this one with me..." Elizabeth said as she strained to pick it up. Smartly, they had it attached to the top.
Shopping at the "grocery store."
The "hospital" area.
The boys had a blast with the rock climbing wall. They did such an awesome job that we'll be heading to Climb Iowa soon!
Elizabeth loved the art room.
As if they don't spend enough time at home building Lego's, we spent quite a while in the Lego Room.
The Farm area.
The big slide was a hit. It took Elizabeth nearly the entire four hours we were there to build up the courage to go down, but she finally did....about a dozen times. She wouldn't go up the stairs without a hand however her brother's were more than happy to assist her.
We didn't get back into town until just after 7 p.m. (my goal was to get home between 4 and 5), but fun was had by all! The four of us fell into bed when we got home.
Sunday morning we woke up at a leisurely pace, ate a late breakfast, and went to the IMAX at the Science Center to watch the documentary National Parks Adventure. We all loved it! This was the minis first time seeing an IMAX show. They first panicked that the seats were moving, but they wound up loving it (minus the really loud parts when they shook and covered their ears). The rest of the day we picked up the house, baked, and made homemade tacos for dinner.
"Ugh! No more cleaning please!" It took them three hours to put away the pile of clothes on their beds and clean out from under their beds.
Poor kitty Doc thought he was safe from the cleaning madness by curling up on Elizabeth's bed. Apparently Elizabeth had the same idea, which meant Doc didn't get much peace and quiet.
We may not have gotten our spring break trip like we had planned, but we wound up with a pretty great weekend!