Play Dates and Road Trip - Part 4

As expected, last week was complete with a road trip and several play dates.

Let's start with the road trip. Luke and I went South on I-85 about an hour and 10 minutes to Huntersville, NC. Huntersville is the home of Discovery Place Kids. Many of you probably know about the original Discovery Place in Charlotte. Well, this is owned by the same people but Discovery Place Kids is much closer, easier to get to, and most importantly, designed for kids ages birth to 2nd grade. Every exhibit is made for little people like Luke.

I was very impressed with the museum. It seems to be fairly new. It is well taken care of and very clean. The only downfall - it was super crowded! Because the weather was SO hot outside, I think everyone had the same idea that we had - stay inside and have some fun. Regardless of the crowds, Luke and I had a great time. (I do plan on taking him back here one weekend after school starts back to see if it's a little less crowded.) I am starting to think that weekends at museums are probably less crowded than weekdays because many times the most frequent visitors to museums are stay at home moms and they go on weekdays and not weekends. I'm going to test this little hypothesis after school starts back. :)

Anyway, the theme to the museum for Luke seemed to be driving. He drove the tractor, the fire truck, the race car, the airplane, and the little red car at the bank drive thru. He loved all the things to drive. He also enjoyed pushing the trains on the huge wooden train track and riding and pushing all the neat toys in the toddler area. One thing that Luke liked doing that I had to say "no" to was throwing balls over the railing. There is a top floor that overlooks the bottom floor and whoever designed the exhibits upstairs was not thinking about boys like Luke. Luke didn't want to roll the balls on the really cool track they had - he wanted to throw them over the railing and watch them bounce on the 1st floor below. Evidently, he wasn't the only toddler with this idea because when I went to pick the balls up, there were several down there. So, downstairs we went - to stay. I did let Luke ride the elevator (a.k.a-"lobby") a few times for old times sake. :)

Some other areas that Luke enjoyed were the chicken coop - he liked taking the eggs out of the chicken cages and putting them in the basket. He liked sweeping the "restaurant", smelling flowers in the "grocery store", and climbing and running down any ramps that he could fine. He especially liked the on ramp to the airplane. He ran up and down this several times. I also noticed that Luke isn't scared of heights yet. There was a bridge that connected the two parts of the upper level and all that was below was the 1st floor. Luke loved walking on this. I was too nervous to take pictures. :)

In the "restaurant" area, Luke not only swept but brought me a few plates and a pitcher for my drink. It was so sweet watching Luke watch the other children to see how he was "suppose" to play. He is a very observant child.

We played at the museum for almost 3 hours and then left to go find a place for lunch. We found a McDonald's and ordered some chicken nuggets (which he usually will not eat) and french fries. Amazingly, he ate 3 of the chicken nuggets. I was so proud of him. I even let him dip a few in BBQ sauce and he loved that.

(Quick side note: you know I have struggled getting Luke to feed himself. Even though he can feed himself with a spoon, he prefers someone else to do it. Well, on Sunday night, he fed himself his entire dinner of macaroni and cheese all by himself. I did nothing but hand him the bowl and spoon. I was so proud. Way to go Luke!)

So...that was our road trip for last week. If you have a chance, go visit Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville. It would be a great Saturday morning road trip. :) They have a website - just google it! :)

Here are some pics from the museum:

Playing on the airplane ramp...

Driving the airplane...
Playing inside the fire truck with the fireman's hat...



Sweeping the restaurant...
Smelling the flowers...

Stopping to take a look at where he wants to go next...

Crawling through the belly of a whale...
Driving the race car...


Driving the kayak....
Pushing the toy....
Walking the the little bridge....do you see all those kids???
Driving the sports car to the bank....
Tell the chickens to lay more eggs...
Waiting for the apples to come out of the tree....he liked this exhibit too but it was too crowded with bigger kids for him to truly enjoy it...
Driving the big tractor...

Now....to the play dates....Luke actually had several play dates this past week and they were all with his buddy Silas.

On Friday morning, Heather and I met at the playground at Welcome Elementary School for a little playground fun. The playground had some shade, which is why we chose to play there. It was steaming hot when we arrived and it was only 9:30am!! Luke started off with a little trouble. Luke immediately climbed to the top of the playground and wanted to go down a few slides. I sent him down one slide all by himself and he did great so then he wanted to go down the big red tunnel slide. Because it was enclosed and the bottom was only about 10 inches off the ground, I thought he would be fine and he was BUT.....let me explain....picture this....Luke at the top of the slide, Heather behind him, Luke turns around and looks like he is ready to slide, Heather looks at me...should I give him a little push??? I say, "sure, I give him a push at home." The little push, then bump, bump, bump and a cry! I'm thinking....what could he have hurt???? Did he fall off the end of the slide???? I run down to see what was wrong and there sits Luke in about 2 inches of water - soaked!!! I didn't check inside the tunnel at the bottom for water because it hadn't rained in a week! :) I felt so bad for Luke - his head was wet, his clothes were drenched - thank goodness Mommy had an extra set of clothes. I changed his clothes and encouraged him to try another slide. Well, for about 20 minutes, he did nothing but whine. He didn't want to slide. He didn't want to climb. He just whined.

Finally, about 20 minutes later, I took him to the swings. We swung for about 5 minutes and all of a sudden, he was ready to play again. From then on, he and Silas had a blast! They climbed through tunnels, climbed up the slides, went down the slides, played peek-a-boo, chased each other, hid from each other (Luke will call "Silee"'s name to find him), ate some goldfish and drank lots of juice. Their little faces were red as fire and they had sweat pouring down their head and they didn't care not one bit. They were enjoying each other. Heather and I were having fun too and were also pouring with sweat! Playing bodyguard to these boys includes crawling through the tunnels behind them and sliding behind them and doing everything we can to keep up with them to keep them safe. We definitely got a workout and it was all worth it.

After about an hour and a half, we went to McDonald's for lunch. The boys did so good. They both sat in their high chairs and ate their chicken nuggets and fries and drank their milk. What started off as a disaster ended up being one of the best play dates yet.

We had so much fun on Friday that we decided to join the boys again for a play date on Saturday, but this time at the pool and with the daddys. :) Landis, Luke, and I met Heather, Ja, and Silas at the pool. Once again, it appeared that the day would be a disaster. We had to sit out of the pool for about 45 minutes because of the thunder. As we waited to see if we were going to get rained out, the boys ate snacks and threw the ball. Then, finally, no thunder, so in the pool we went. We went to the big pool so the daddys could jump off the diving board. The boys love to watch this! Ja even tried a front flip for the first time in many years and believe it or not, it wasn't so bad. The big boys and little boys threw the ball back and forth and swam as hard as they could. Luke has gotten to where he will even attempt to blow bubbles with his mouth and doesn't get upset when water gets in his face. His favorite thing to do is for someone to swing him around and around in the baby pool or the big pool really fast while he says, "Weeeee!" He will also kick to the side while you hold him. He really enjoys the water and is very comfortable.

We had so much fun at the pool that we decided to continue the family play date at our house for a cookout. We all went home, quickly showered, and then the Lohrs came over to grill. While the boys chatted and cooked, the mommies chased the boys around in the living room and outside. Once again, they had a great time! They play so well together. It's so cute to watch them - they will play separately and then all of a sudden take an interest in the same thing. They both sat down to eat (before the grown up food was ready). Then, they played some more. They tried to ride Thomas, pushed the shopping cart, played on the slide, rode the bicycle and red car, played in the sandbox and threw the balls. Fun, fun, boy stuff!

The dinner was delicious. The company was great! What a fun night! Luke crashed easily around 9:00!

Thanks, Heather, Ja, and Silas for a fun time! The beach trip is going to be so much fun!

Here are some pictures of our play dates with Silas...

Silas playing peek a boo...
Look at those red cheeks...







In the tunnels...


Riding together...



Now, some video...

Video #1: watch Luke's great manners as he lets several kids pass him on the toddler bridge

Video #2: watch Luke drive the race car

Video #3: watch Luke learn how to make noise on the Welcome playground

I can't believe it's already Wednesday. We had a super sweet story time this morning. Luke is back on track with his night time sleeping and naps so he's in a great mood. This morning, he sang the songs at story time, did a puzzle, and made a paper crocodile...so cute! I sure am going to miss story time when I go back to work in a few weeks. :) At the same time, I appreciate the times that I have had. :)

I hope to post again this weekend. Luke and I are going to try to survive the outdoors for an outside road trip tomorrow. Stay tuned! :)

Toddy