And finally...

this place is really hands on!
As if we weren't all worn out from a very full weekend, we capped off our visit to South Carolina with a visit to the EdVenture children's museum on Monday morning. Kellen had been looking forward to going since we went there a couple years ago. He was really looking forward to shopping in the miniature grocery store and revisiting the music room. Even baby Ellary got out of her stroller to join in some of the fun! Last time we were here, Addie was just big enough to sit up, so it was fun to see her run around and take in all the museum had to offer.

K&A fill their carts - any surprise that Addie bought a cake?

Shopping and "costing" (Addie's term for checking out)

"We need a price check on cute babies in aisle 1"

Ellary pretended to be a firefighter and a builder!

The coolest kid wheels - a pedal powered bulldozer! I want one for the backyard!

2 new "crafty" products I'm putting on my list of must-haves! Markers that color on windows and moon sand - sand you can mold and crumble that doesn't make any mess! Too cool!

Kellen, Addie & Kieran just played and played!

Kellen spent a lot of time climbing the rock wall - maybe he'll take after Ben and Jordan!

"Just the Girls" (and Kieran!)

While Geof, Kris and Kellen were in Atlanta, Susan and I took Addie, Ellary and Kieran to the Columbia Zoo. The weather was pleasant, and the zoo was just the right size for Addie and Kieran to spend an aftenoon walking around. We saw elephants, an alligator, giraffes, zebras, bears, lions, tigers, penguins, flamingos, monkeys, gorillas, reptiles, fish, and more.

Taking a ride on a tiny elephant and practicing standing like a flamingo

Addie learned how to milk a cow in the farm exhibit.

Kieran had the best seats in the house for watching the penguins swim by!

Rolling down the Road Laughing

"Just the Guys" spotted this funny sign at a stop to fuel up on the way home. Even Kellen thought it was hysterical, and he memorized the slogan on the ride home so he could tell me.

"Like fine wine except it tastes nasty. Guaranteed Gasoline."

"Just the Guys"

In our family, sometimes Geof and Kellen do special things, and Kellen says they're for "just the guys." Even the not-so-special things, like mowing grass or working in the basement become special events when they are for "just the guys." On Sunday Geof and Kellen had a SUPER "just for guys" event. They drove down to Atlanta with Kris and his friend, Ken, to see the Braves play the Mets at Turner Field. Kellen came home more excited than I have ever seen him before! He talked a mile a minute non-stop for about an hour telling us about his day at the huge stadium. The stadium seemed so big to him that he asked an usher if he would be safe in his seat. She assured him that he would be safe, but if he got worried he could come see her and she would seat him closer to the field. Bummer for them - Kellen felt safe. :) He got to eat a hot-dog "bigger than his head," drank "a sip of Coke" (then he corrected himself and said "well...a whole lot of coke!"), ate a giant pretzel, watched some guys fixing the "pitcher's mountain," learned how to make a rally cap by turning his baseball cap inside out, and he got to run the bases after the game. He had made up a whole story about the baseball game he got to play in - there were no pitchers, but rather large Coke bottle cannons shot out baseballs for him to hit with a golden metal bat. Kellen says he now wants to play baseball when he grows up, in addition to playing the drums and guitar, but he doesn't think he needs to play t-ball first now that he's been on the field where the big guys play "real baseball."

Kellen overlooking Turner Field; Geof & Kellen on the field waiting to run the bases


Kellen is the little guy in the center running toward third

One additional note - Geof said he did NOT teach Kellen the tomahawk chop - that was going a little too far for our resident Pirates fan! (Geof did come home sporting a Braves ball cap, which Addie says has an "A for Addie!"

Saluda Splash

After we got home from a long but fun day at the museum, I got to work packing suitcases. Within about 2 hours we were packed and in the car again, heading south to Columbia, SC. We went to visit the Tolers, our good friends that we have known since we lived in Maryland. We spent the afternoon on Saturday at Saluda Shoals Park, which has a great water playground that we visited last time we were in Columbia when the water was not yet turned on. This time there was plenty of water everywhere, and the kids got very wet!

Kellen disappears into the starry mist

Neither Kellen nor Addie would stand under the buckets to have water dumped on their heads, so we posed this picture to make it look like Kellen was getting soaked!



Susan, Kris & Kieran

After we were done getting soaked on the playground, we walked down to the boat ramp to feed the fish. The fish were not interested in what we had to offer (organic cinnamon apple graham crackers!), but we made friends with two little dogs and the kids had fun wading into the water.

Addie and Roland became great friends!

Wading in the water

Precious moments with Kieran

Our Favorite Place

This is the first of 4 posts describing our fun but BUSY weekend!

On Friday we finally got together with the Barbours, after Heather and I have been trying for a few weeks to plan a play date. What fun! We went to the NC Museum of Life and Science, one of Kellen and Addie's favorite places. It's even more fun with friends! The kids were great, and even Ellary cooperated after a shaky fussy start and fell asleep in her stroller for most of the day. Here are the highlights:

It's so good to find love when you're young!

This time there was a breeze and Kellen was able to successfully steer the boats

Playing (pretty nicely!) together with boats and searching for butterflies

Kellen was a good helper pushing Kinsey in her stroller for a lot of the day

Playing in the "Small Science" room

Braden is INSIDE a bubble!