Muh-zih-zem

...that's N's pronunciation of "museum."

Today we visited the Children's Museum of New Hampshire.  We aren't doing N's playgroup for the second session of the year, since I'm trying to keep our early mornings free so L can take her nap here at home (her night sleep is much better when she has uninterrupted naps during the day).  So, our Tuesdays are now open and free.  I had been wanting to visit this children's museum for a while, and with an open day before us I decided on a whim to spend a little of N's birthday money on our admission.  It turned out to be a great belated birthday present for her.  We had a blast.

It was about a 40-minute drive, but that actually worked to our advantage because L got one of her naps on the way there, and another on the way back.  N enjoyed the ride, patiently reading Richard Scarry and humming "Sister Suffragettes" from Mary Poppins the whole way.  What I did not know was that downtown Dover has lots of one-way streets, and we had to drive around the block three times to find the correct entrance.  N kept saying, very patiently and encouragingly, "Almost to muh-zi-zem, Mama!" as we drove in circles.

There were tons of people when we first arrived (two school buses in the parking lot) but the museum was roomy enough to accommodate all of these people, for the most part.  N only collided with one other kid throughout the course of our visit.  There were so many interesting exhibits we could have stayed all day.  Some of our favorites were a green screen where you could watch yourself dancing with geishas on TV, an archeological dig where you could use tools to dig in real dirt for dinosaur bones, and a yellow submarine with miniature beds, a scope, and a pretend sonar.  We ate the lunch that I packed for us in the snack room, which was decorated like a 50's-style cafe.  Very cute.

After we ate lunch the school children had vacated and so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  We made one more visit to the yellow submarine (N's favorite).  I watched her as she mimicked, word for word, everything that she had seen the "big kids" doing in the submarine... including pointing to a "shark" swimming by the window (computer screen) and shouting, "A shark!  Somebody shoot it!!"  Sheesh, this kid doesn't miss a thing.

I managed to get a few pictures before our camera died.

N the paleontologist

She put these goggles on herself

Digging for dinosaur bones

Ringing the trolley bell

Talking on the phone with someone in Japan

Making music

Gigantic train table in the toddler area

A very, very fun day.  I just love re-living my childhood in places like this.

By the way, L (and Mama) very much enjoyed the "nursing nook" that the museum has set up with comfy pillows, books for all ages, and bouncy gymnastics mats for older siblings.  L expressed her excitement by having a poop blowout that went all over her clothes, the Baby Bjorn, and me.  She also spit up on me and herself three different times.  After the first wardrobe change I ceased caring.  Ah, such is our life.  I wouldn't change it for the world.

On a side note, I saw no less than six pregnant women while we were there.  Is it just me, or does it seems like there are soooo many people having babies right now?  Maybe I'm just noticing the preggos more now that I have babies on the brain.  Or maybe I just frequent the places that all the preggos frequent.  ??

Sorry for all of the rambling.  M's not home, so I'm talking to my blog instead.  Thanks for listening!