What I love is that there is a lot to do but it's not an overly chaotic mash up of trying to do a billion things in one day. When we go to the Children's Museum, for example, I feel pressed to get EVERYTHING in and sometimes forget to let my kids just be kids and enjoy a section for an hour or 2. But there is just so much to see and do! At the State Museum, we easily could have stayed longer than the 4 hours we were there (I had an allergy attack and was miserable and had to leave).
But you don't feel like you have to rush. And that's what made it an enjoyable day.
We arrived and met up with the group of bloggers that were there to enjoy the day. Then the kids and I raced off for the last minute early lunch reservation we were able to get in the L.S. Ayres Tearoom. I'd been craving their menu since reading it online... chicken velvet soup was high on my list! We also love that the hot dog kid's meal comes in a bandana. And of course, we love dessert!! Clown ice cream for the kids and the pecan crusted ice cream with hot fudge for me!!
The museum has a Foucalt Pendulum Clock that is really mesmerizing to watch. I'm not so good at the science thing but the basic idea is that it keeps time by knocking down the little pegs - but it knocks them down because the pegs move due to the earth's rotation, not because of how the pendulum swings. For the Christmas season, the museum puts up train tracks and a little village around the clock. The village is made by knitters!!
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| Snow effect added by Google +. Pretty cool! |
We stopped and watched some musicians from above. Teagan has decided she wants to play handbells like this woman. I've heard a rumor that we might get handbells at church someday so maybe she will get a chance! It was really cool to watch this duo - I'm used to seeing a handbell choir with many people and each person only has a couple of bells. To see one woman doing all the bells was very impressive!
Another favorite at Celebration Crossing is the old train that you can ride after you see Santa (bad mommy - I didn't bother to take a pic of the kids with Santa). They rode the train multiple times and loved it each time! The train goes around in a circle and is set in a winter wonderland setting with lots of fun things to see.
Another favorite thing about the train ride is the stop to see Raggedy Ann and get paper snowflakes from her. We cam ehome with 10 snowflakes and have taped them on the window by the front door.
And it isn't all Christmas stuff. My kids loved learning about remains found in Indiana and they really loved this dig pit. They've played in this sort of thing before but never loved it like this one. This one was really small but my kids played in there for a good 20 minutes or more. Many other kids came and went but my kids kept going - trying to unearth all the bones. The best part was when Teagan discovered a brown bone and the 2 started to feverishly dig to unearth it... only to discover that she had found the floor!
Again, we would have spent more time if I hadn't been hit with an allergy attack. Teagan was fascinated by the natural history section since her class just finished a science section on fossils and rocks. I guess we will have to make a point to go back and see what else the museum has to offer sometime soon!
If you are looking for a really fun way to ring in the New Year with your kids, the Indiana State Museum has a great opportunity! They host a Family New Year's Eve on Dec 31 - it's a full on kid friendly party with face painting and stilt walkers and a band and a huge balloon drop at 8 p.m. to ring in the new year, kid friendly style. Don't miss it!
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