More on the Mystery Trip

As you've already read, our mystery trip was, indeed, a mystery. In fact, part of the trip was even a mystery to Heath and me.

The plan: Leave early. Stop in Columbia. Take the kids somewhere to burn some energy to the point of exhaustion so they would nap during the remainder of the drive. (Naps = happy, more agreeable children) Exactly where that "somewhere" was, we weren't sure. We thought about taking them to a park or a playground. The zoo maybe? We got in the car, started driving, and a while later, made our decision: Edventure Children's Museum.

The kids L-O-V-E-D it.

They played and ran, and ran and climbed, and climbed and played...for hours...nonstop. What a great place!!

Both Jacob and Annabelle were fascinated with the butterfly garden. I was just happy we made it out of the garden without any butterfly casualties. Whew.

Jacob was given an informational hand-out with pictures of all the different butterflies. He tried to find each one. "Zebra butterfly...check!"


The firetruck was also a big hit. Typically, every playground Jacob sets foot on turns into a fire station. He is always pretending to be a fireman, fearlessly putting out fires and rescuing people in peril. Yet, if you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he says, "A police officer."


Jacob has seen me pump gas a million times. If Heath is with us, he is the one who pumps the gas and sometimes, Jacob gets to help. The other night, The kids and I stopped for gas on the way home from church. When I got out of the car, Jacob yelled, "Mommy, YOU are going to pump the gas????" "Yes," I replied. "Mommy, you can NOT do that!" he said. "That is a job for BOYS!" "But I pump gas all the time," I answered. Jacob thought a minute. "Oh yeah," he said. "I guess girls CAN pump gas!" Needless, to say, Jacob had a blast "pumping gas" at this museum exhibit.



How fun is this? A giant game of Operation! You know...the one where you have to get the bones and organs out without touching the sides. If you touch the metal on the sides, an alarm sounds. Check out these two surgeons. How did they do? Well, I can tell you, my ears were ringing for a while after we left. :)

Making music.

This giant boy was also a favorite. Inside the giant boy is a giant playground. The kids climbed around inside his body to see how his stomach, heart, brain, etc... works. Fun...and interesting...and a bit weird.

Annabelle fell in love with John Deere.

Another highlight (there were a lot) was the grocery store. If only our trips to the real grocery store were this fun.....

Jacob and Annabelle both packed a ton of groceries into their buggies. That was before we saw the giant sign on the wall that read, "8 items per cart." Oops. Looking around at the other shoppers, our kids definitely weren't the only offenders.

Annabelle enjoyed the water play area. Soon after this video, she poured a boat full of water on the little girl who was trying to help her.

A fun time was had by all...and our plan worked. By the time we left the museum, Jacob and Annabelle were toast. They fell asleep almost immediately. Thank goodness. What was supposed to be an hour and a half trip to the concert turned into over three. We ended up sitting in traffic for about two hours due to accidents and broken down vehicles. But it all worked out fine. The kids slept peacefully in the backseat until we reached our destination and we made it to the Movers concert on time. Hooray!!