A Day at the Museum

While we were staying with my family for our Christmas reunion, we spent a day at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis (the largest one in the world!).

I hadn't been there in many years, and I forgot what an exciting and magical place it is!  They have a myriad of activities, sights, and sounds for kids to explore, and we did just that!

We started by checking out the dinosaurs.  I wanted to let Eli see new and big things, but I especially wanted to let him try things out for himself, so I mostly kept him around areas where he could get down and do his own exploring.  (So while there were some very impressive "big" things, the pictures I took were of the Eli-size adventures.)  

He enjoyed playing with the toy dinosaurs, and it was a great spot that was perfect for his height.

My nieces Holly and Gwen were being archaeologists, and looked so cute in their goggles!

Holly and Eli checking out the dino eggs.

There was a really cool train station, where you could climb into a train and "ride" it, and there were also mechanical trains up on the ceiling.  The little kiddos had fun with their own "mini" train station.

Not wanting to share trains with cousin Tori.  

There was one display called "Fireworks," that took all these plastic colored bottles and objects and filled the glass ceiling with them.  There were others for kids to play with, fitting them into holes.

The fun REALLY started once we got to the Playscape.  Eli LOVED the water play!  He stood up to the ledge and played so independently for a long time.  When I finally picked him up to take him to something else he cried!  He would have stayed there all day if I let him!

This girl (who's obviously much bigger than Eli) came over and started playing with him.  I was so worried she was going to knock him over!  This picture shows him about to be hit in the face with a boat full of water.  : )

Holly was also a big fan of the water.  Here they are fishing.  : )

There was an area made especially for kids 2 and younger.  It was a great place for Eli to play, because it was closed-in, and the floors were all cushioned so he could crawl and stand safely.  Most of the time he was the only kid in there!

He loved going back and forth across the bridge.

I then let him loose to go play around the room.  Here a kid was working on building this design, and Eli came right in the middle of it.  He wanted to help build, too!  : )

Several little girls were playing in this toy house.  When Eli came in, they all kind of scattered.  Maybe they were surprised to see a boy playing "house?"

Eli was OBSESSED with these lawn mowers!  When he saw kids pushing them, he would follow them and try to take it away!  It was funny because he couldn't even stand up to push it because it was much too big for him.  But something about them sure must have looked cool!  : )

It was a great day at the museum, filled with plenty of new adventures!