Park Day

Hubby had his day off on Thursday. It was a bit overcast which meant the perfect weather to be out! We decided to go enjoy the day at the park.

We went the a McDonald's drive through (yeah, real healthy I know!) to pick up lunch first. Since it was tax day, they were having a special - Buy one Big Mac get a second for a penny. Plus, every Thursday they offer all Happy Meals for $2.00. So hubby and I got Big Macs and the kids each got their own chicken nugget Happy Meal.

We ate out lunch on a park picnic table and then spent a good two hours running around playing.

Good Times!

MOSI

Remember that family pass we purchased?? Well, it also gets us into the Museum of Science and Industry. So, we did that today!

This was the first time any of us had been there, so that was pretty neat.

I must say, this place is HUGE!! There are TONS of cool things to do - all hands on, which is perfect for our little busy body. We were there for a bit over 3 hours and there was an entire floor we never got around to seeing. Another reason I am SO glad we decided to take the plunge and buy these passes!

We had such a great time and I can't wait to go back again.

Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died, so I have very limited pictures. You'll just have to trust me on this one, there was lots to do and we had a blast!

Aquarium Fun

When we last went to GWiz, we decided to splurge and a buy a family annual pass. It had cost us about $25 to get into the museum that day. For $50 more, we were able to buy the family pass. We decided to go for it because of the great benefits of the pass. It does not only allow us access to Gwiz as often as we like for the next year, but also other attractions as well.

So today we decided to put our pass to good use and spend the day at the aquarium.

We've taken Gigi several times before, but this was J's first visit. It was pretty cool to be able to just walk right in because of the passes!

I'll be honest, the aquarium itself is actually quite small. You can go through the entire building in about an hour or less, depending on how much time you stop to to look at each thing.

What excites me about having the passes is that we have unlimited access to the outdoor part of the aquarium. Outside, they have a water play area for the kids that is just awesome!!

The ground is soft so I don't get so worried about Gigi running around. There is a huge Pirate ship in the middle of the play area and slides and water fountains all around. Off to the side there are sandboxes and even a water gun fighting area.

Today, Gigi spent her time running through the Pirate ship and going on the slides. Since there is no standing water, only spraying water, you wouldn't think the kids would get all that wet...she was SOAKED!! It was so hot outside though that I'm sure it felt nice.

J had fallen asleep by the time we went outside. When he finally woke up, I realized just how wet Gigi was getting and didn't want to take J in because that meant I'd get soaked too. So, he missed out this time.

Good thing we can go whenever we want for the entire next year!

I'm really glad we have these passes!!

Beach Fun

Today hubby called as he was driving home from work and told me to get the kids into their bathing suits. He wanted to go to the beach.

It was a beautiful day, so I thought it was a great idea - especially mid-week; it was a nice break from the ordinary.

The kids and I were all set by the time hubby got home. We packed up the van and went to one of our favorite little local beaches.

Since it was 6pm by this time, the beach was pretty empty - which I like! We didn't stay too long, since they close at 7pm, but we did have fun.

The water was a perfect temperature and felt so nice! Gigi and hubby spent lots of time building a sand castle.

It was a fun, unexpected outing!

Happy Fourth of July!

To celebrate we went to a visit a friend who was spending the day hanging out on her boat at the marina where it was docked.

It was a fun little party, especially after the sun went down and it began to cool off a bit!

The best was watching all the beautiful fireworks right over water! It was a great sight.

For the occasion, I made Gigi a special patriotic dress and J a matching diaper cover and shorts. My cute coordinating kids!

I tried to get my mom to take some pics of us, but we did not have a good space set up and the kids were not really cooperating. So we did the best we could!

G Whiz

Today we went out for the day to a local museum called "GWhiz". It's a children's hands on science museum. At first glance, it is surprisingly small for a museum, really just one large room. However once we stopped and looked at each item, we realized there really is lots to do there. Plus, some of things actually took quite a bit of time to complete, and others we had to walk away from so as not to become too frustrated. :)

Gigi loved the fact that she was actually able to touch everything. She even played with dinosaurs and took pictures of them to make her own mini movie.

There were lots of fun things to play with there. Even J was able to get in on some of the action!

Hubby had fun with blocks too!

All in all it was a pretty nice day! Fun and educational!! My favorite mix :)

A day at the Zoo!

Ok, I'm really behind on my blogging...sorry!! Anyway, last Friday (April 24) we went to the zoo for the day.

First off, I must say I was shocked by the cost to get in - $55 for us!! Plus, I was a bit ticked when I realized that all of the rides are a separate charge, most were $2-$3 each!!

Now that I've shown just how cheap, um I mean, frugal I am.... onto the pictures of the day;

Chuck E. Cheese

While I went shopping the doubles sale at Kmart, hubby and Gig played at Chuck E Cheese next door.

Think she had fun??

Peter Rabbit

Yesterday our local library had a puppet show about "Peter Rabbit", the naughty little bunny created by Beatrix Potter. Did you know that book was written over 100 years ago?? Crazy!

Anyway, the show was performed by one puppeteer. Gigi enjoyed herself and behaved through the entire thing. Hubby said J was actually watching also!

When the show was over they handed out a craft to each child. It was to make two stick puppets and a stage. Gigi colored in her puppets, cut them out and attached the straws to their backs completely on her own!

I was quite proud - especially when I saw some other kids that were obviously older than her having their mom do the cutting and taping of the straws. Not that we are supposed to compare our child to others, right? Oops.

It was a fun, free outing.