Children’s Museum

Danielle and I took the girls to the Iowa Children’s Museum located in the Coralville Mall on Martin Luther King Day.  We went back and forth 100 times trying to decide if we should go.  We both had many projects at home that could have used a little attention, but we agreed that it isn’t often that the weather is amazing in January to be able to travel so we figured we better do it!

This was Kenna’s first time at the museum.  The Garvins had been there once before in the fall, so Ella was really excited to be able to show Kenna around!  As soon as we arrived Ella grabbed Kenna’s hand and they were off.  She even picked her up so that she could see the hot air balloon inside the museum! 

As we were walking up to the entrance Danielle and I must have looked at the sign on the door at the same time.  We noticed there were no hours listed for Monday… we both looked at each other with the word panic written all over our faces.  Please don’t tell me we drove all the way here (not to mention got up early) for no reason?!!!  We quickly got closer to read the sign: Monday- open when schools are not in session.  We had no clue if Iowa City schools were in session or not!!  I grabbed the handle to the door and it OPENED!!  Phew! 

From the second we walked through the doors the girls were off and running from one exhibit to the next!

Kenna was way too busy to smile for the camera.  I finally gave up and decided to just take pictures anyways.  The little stinker started turning her head so she wasn’t even looking at the camera!

The hospital area was one of my favorites.  Ella, Kenna, and Lily all loved playing with the babies in the nursery.  Auntie played the role of the X-ray tec while Ella and Kenna got X-rays of their feet!

The dental area was a favorite of Ella’s, as she just lost her first tooth over the weekend!

We had to get a picture with the cane so that we could show Grandpa Dan!

One of McKenna’s favorite spots was the ambulance.  She LOVED driving it.  We’d go to a new area and then before you knew it she was running back to the hospital so that she could drive!

Sue, Jill, and Ashley (Matt Garvin’s mom, sister, and niece) drove from Davenport to join us!  Sue is also a teacher and had the day off so it worked out perfect!

We took a break from the museum and ate lunch at Panera.  Kenna was starting to melt down and would not eat her lunch!  Mommy had no problem finishing off her delicious mac-n-cheese!  I ended up having to go out to the car to get her blankies and paci.  We were worried she was going to fall apart and that we wouldn’t get to go back and play in the store area.

As soon as we got back to the  museum Kenna got her second wind and started running from place to place again, but this time with blankies in hand and a paci in her mouth! 

This area was probably one of the top favorites for all the girls.  It was seriously the cutest store I’ve ever seen.  It had all the different areas of a grocery store with a variety of real looking foods in each one.  Kenna loved getting to fill her shopping cart with whatever she wanted!

We spent a little more time in the hospital area before I decided to take Kenna to Target.  I had a few things I needed to get and I didn’t want to have to worry about it when we got home!

The second I put her in the cart she asked me to take off her boots.  Then she nestled down into a laying position, using her blankies for a pillow.  The poor girl was super tired and wanted to sleep, even though it doesn’t look like it in this picture!

We met back up with Danielle and the girls for ice cream before heading home.  I quickly ran my groceries to the car and came back expecting to eat the rest of Kenna’s orange sherbet.  I’m glad I took one bite before I left because by the time I got back it was just about gone!!

The girls traveled great again, thanks to the new Georgie DVD mommy bought for $5 at Target!  As we drove through Waterloo (around 3:30) McKenna fell asleep.  I was hoping she would stay awake because it was way past her naptime!!  She woke up as I carried her into the house, but by the time I got all of our belongs in from the car she was back asleep!  I ended up calling Matt to ask him what I should do, wake her up or let her sleep, and he said let her sleep!  I was okay with this decision because this allowed mommy to take a nap too! 

I’m so glad we made the decision to travel to Iowa City.  It was a really fun day, especially since the girls were awesome!  (Well except for Kenna at lunch!)  I love being able to do things like this with my sister and her girls.  We are sooooo blessed to be able to live so close to each other.  I also feel blessed that we have such an amazing relationship and want to hang out together!! 

I look forward to the next time we get to go back so we can spend more time at some of the exhibits we didn’t have time for.  I also have plans to go shopping while we are there!