Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Fun with Kids

Snowtubing
There is this great snowtubing place about 45 minutes from where we live. So a couple weeks ago I got some discount tickets from work and my Mom and I took the kids. What is snowtubing you ask? Well, you climb a big hill, sit in an innertube, and go flying down a well groomed hill complete with moguls.












This picture doesn't really do justice to the size of the hill, but it does show the nicely groomed lanes. For those who would rather not walk up the hill, there are two tow lines that one can use to be pulled up the hill. The waiting for those could be a bit lengthy however.












The kids had a ton of fun, even though my Mom and I froze our fingers and toes and noses watching! Erin, being the youngest and by far the shortest, had a tough time navigating the lanes once she got to the bottom of the hill. With all her winter gear and a huge innertube to tug along, she was having trouble keeping up with the big kids. Michelle, taking pitty on poor little Erin, told her to get in the tube and Michelle pulled her around for the entire 2 hours that we were there. Erin was quite the lady of luxury!


























Science Museum

Earlier this week, I took Kyle, Sarah, Erin, and Sarah's friend, Kelly to the Science Museum. Most of the exhibits at the museuem do not change, but the kids still love going and seeing the same things over and over again. Normally I drag them through the "educational" exhibits, that they consider BO-ring, then I allow them to do the more fun, hands-on stuff. This time I decided to just let them do whatever they wanted and oh did they have fun.

We played in a big stream table (my personal favorite), looked at optical illusions, put the kids faces on money, played the stock market, went on a submarine ride (just pretend), and many other fun things.
Those are some scary baby dinosaurs!












While Kelly showed Sarah how to make origami frogs...












Kyle explored an elevated maze that goes from the first floor to the second floor.












Next the kids tried their hand at being meteorologists on television.












I think the most fun was had when we visited a hands-on exhibit exploring the properties of matter. Sarah and Kelly spun themselves until they could barely stand...I think Kelly's face says it all:












All four kids checked out a bridge to test which type of construction would support them better.












Much fun was had by all. I think I got more tired out than the kids did though! I was exhausted by the end of the afternoon. After seeing all that the kids wanted to see at the museum, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for a yummy late lunch. After all that fun and food I was ready for a nap!

1 comment:

Katya said...

Wow...you have been saving all of these goodies! Yesterday, as I was scurrying about outside, moving snow around in sub-zero weather, I asked myself, "What would happen if winter didn't end? Could I TAKE it?" I thought about this for some time, and asnswered myself honestly, that yes, I would and COULD! I feel so much better in the winter than in the other seasons. I do know that having that wonderful woodstove helps, but I really do love winter. I like fall because of the colors, but when it is 80 degrees in the fall, I want to SCREAM! It should be, ideally, about 45-50. THAT would be perfect. Our beautiful fall weather seems far too short. And, rainy! Ah well.
The kids look like they had a ball and I KNOW my kid had fun with all that SCIENCE flourishing!!!