Museum with Cousins

Last week my niece, Gwen, and nephew, Zach, came from California to Indiana to spend a week with my parents.  On Thursday, Eli and I met up with my mom and the kids at the Children's Museum for a day of fun!  Eli hadn't been there since he started walking, so this trip opened up a whole new world of excitement for him.  Even though he hasn't seen Gwen and Zach since Christmas, he was so happy to see them again, and loved playing with them.

I was sad to learn upon arrival that the Playscape was closed for renovation, but thankfully there were "smaller" things to do at every exhibit to take its place.  We started off in Lego Land, where Eli had fun sitting in this lego car--

Stacking/knocking over the big lego blocks got him all giddy!  He was ecstatic about the entire museum.  He paraded around every which way, roaming off on his own a number of times, so excited to be around so many people and see such cool things.

We hit up the Hot Wheels exhibit, which was jam-packed!  There were some full-size cars that kids could shine and climb all over.  Eli tried to push his way in, too!  Here he and Zach are checking out a race car--

With the Playscape closed, we spent a lot of time in Science Works (mostly for bigger kids).  Eli could only play in the water for a little while because there was only a very narrow step to stand on.

Shoveling rocks and pushing the wheelbarrow were some of Eli's (and Gwen and Zach's) favorite activities!  Whenever we placed a rock in his wheelbarrow, Eli threw it out!

Visiting the dinosaurs was the only exhibit that we repeated from our previous time.  

Sure loved the nest of eggs!  He kept sliding down this rock--

Got a kick out of seeing his reflections in the room of mirrors!

Eli just thought this tea party with the bears was the coolest thing (as you can tell from the grin on his face).  He didn't quite understand that they were behind glass, though, and ran his head into it!

I apologize for the poor quality of the following photos. They were taken with a camera phone.  This was a pretty big house, but Eli climbed up the stairs (and I of course followed suit) and poked his cute little head out the window.

We finished off our stay with a carousel ride!  It was his first time and he was definitely nervous, but did great!

Thanks, Grammie for such a fun outing!  I'm so glad Eli got to spend some time with his cousins and that they all got to know each other better.  We wish they didn't live so far away!

Oh, and here's a non-related video of Eli that I forgot to put in his "19 Months" post.  He has a picture of a lion on the back of his highchair, and recently he's started feeding the lion his food.  He started it on his own, and sometimes I see him give the lion some of his drink, too.  The cutest thing!!