Showing posts with label children's museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's museum. Show all posts

Monday, May 13, 2013

Mommy Monday: Adventures at the Children's Museum

Sloane turned 6 months old last week and to celebrate we thought it would be a fun idea to check out one of the many children's museums we have in our area. As it turned out I needed to stop by my work in Bellevue that day so we decided to check out Kids Quest children's museum in Bellevue located in the Facoria mall. It's also a check mark to one of the items on my summer wish list!!

I had originally heard about this children's museum from a Seattle magazine saying this was a highly rated children's museum. I was especially eager to check out the area that was designed for children under 3 years old.

We arrived a bit before 10am and learned that members are able to go in a half hour early but general public weren't allowed in until 10am. A membership cost's $99. We decided to kill time around target until it opened.

(Sloane checking out this things in the play house)
 
(Making friends where ever she goes)

At 10am we paid at the front desk, $9 per person, Sloane is free until she is a year old. We made a bee line to "the back yard" which is the area designed for children under 3 years old. Sloane of course took a little bit of time to grasp the whole area but once she warmed up she was crawling all over the place. It's a fun area that has little play houses, fish tanks, a big train track set, tree's to play in, puppet show area, play tables, a big open play area with block and other toys plus a lot more!


We started our playing in the play houses where they had fun sensory play things that Sloane could touch and explore. She even made friends with a 9 month old baby in one of the play houses. We made our way around the rest of the back yard and finally landed in the big open area where Sloane could crawl around. She liked this area the best cause she has tons of freedom and she could watch all the older kids. Our only struggle was trying to get her to not put everything in her mouth.


Once done with the backyard we decided to check out the rest of the museum. Next stop, the water play area. We knew Sloane would love this too cause she just loves splashing. She just loved the running river and was splashing up a storm. We did have to hold her which made it a bit difficult for her to reach the water well so that is something she will enjoy more when she is older. The rest of the museum was a bit too old for her but Mat and I had a blast finding out our height, playing with the scarf wind tunnel, and trying to make a target with a big air drum.

Overall I think the museum was a blast and I think it would just get better as Sloane got older. They offered a story time but we didn't stay for that. I liked that it was small so not too overwhelming but still offered a lot of fun things. One thing we didn't notice when we first came in were the lockers, which would have been nice to use, they are located in the back on the museum. I don't think we will be getting a membership to this museum but I think we will defiantly be back. We will scope out the other two children's museum and see which we want to get a membership to!



Saturday, May 4, 2013

Summer Wish List

Now that we have a child it isn't as easy to just jump up and do whatever we want to do whenever we feel like it. Now it takes a bit more planning and packing and lugging and whatnot. I came up with a list of things I really want to do this summer so that when we have days off together we can choose for this list. It's easy and thought free, instead of wasting the day because we couldn't think of something to do. I got quite a bit of these ideas from all the fun summer Seattle magazines that are out right now.

~Day trips~
*Leavenworth: a little Bavarian town about 2 and a half hours away from us. Mat has never gone and I think it would be fun to introduce him to it. Also I'm craving the 59er diner!!

* Sequim: this is a fun day trip where we could hit up the Olympic Game Farm, explore the bunkers at Fort Worden and take in the Lavender farms.

* Roslyn: I've never been here and it is the town that Northern Exposure was filmed in (I never watched that show but I know the imagery well) I think it would just be fun to pick up and explore somewhere new, the road trip getting there is half the fun!

* Mount Rainer: such a beautiful drive plus there is Northern Trek which is a fun zoo type place that the animals roam around and you ride around on a tram type thing. Not quite as fun as the Olympic Game Farm but still pretty fun.

* Whale Watching: I have done this once on a class trip and I think it would just be so nice to enjoy a sunny day out on a boat looking for whales. You can usually find a groupon for whale watching this time of year also.

*Zillah: this is a place I had never heard of but I read about in a magazine. It's suppose to be the best place to pick cherries.

* Wallace Falls: I actually heard about this place from a vlog I watch "ItsJudysLife" It looked like a beautiful hike and if they can do it with their baby we can do it with ours.

* San Juans: I have only been to Lopez Island once camping but I hear such great things I'd love to explore more.

* Arboretum: I have never been, a co-worker added this to my list so I'll just have to check it out.

* Gas Works/ Alki/ Ballard Locks/ Golden Gardens: These are all our regular summer visits but of course we now want to visit with Sloane in tow, making it a whole new adventure.

~Over nighters~
* Seaside: this is one of my absolute fav places and my goal is to go down for my birthday in July. While down there I'd love to hit up Tillamook of course!

* Lake Chelan: This is such a staple for people around here to go over the summer, yet I have only been once. I'd love to go out there and explore and visit the Grand Coulee Dam.

~Kids Stuff~
* Woodland Park Zoo/ Point Defiance Zoo/ Cougar Mountain Zoo/ Seattle Aquarium: I want to visit all these places and then explore our options of getting a membership at one.

* Kids Quest Children's Museum: I read about this place in one of the magazines and I said it had an area for kids 3 and under so I would love to check it out. It's located in Bellevue and every 3rd Thursday of the Month, 5-8pm: Free

* Seattle Children's Museum: I have wanted to go here since Sloane is born. I keep putting it off because I haven't felt like she was old enough to really enjoy it. She is pretty mobile now and loves to see new things so I think I'll be checking this out pretty soon!

* Imagine Children's Museum: This one is in Everett, so probably the closest one to our house. I don't know what the difference in all three are so I wanna check them all out! Thursday 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. is 1/2 price admission

So hopefully we will be able to explore a few of these over them summer. I of course will be writing blog posts about them so keep coming back and maybe I'll explore somewhere that you would like to visit also.

For you Washingtonians are there any other places or things we should add to our list to check out?

*Toppenish Washington - City of Murals(eastern WA) (added by my grams)