Becca Groves Header
 photo home_zps1cc7d3c8.png photo start_zpsa2c6c1a1.png photo motherhood_zps5b7bd8a5.png photo grovestead_zpsa872b0de.png  photo bees_zps9cbb22f2.png  photo contact_zps6de91cd9.png

the minnesota children's museum


After our trip to the zoo, I knew we had to hop back in the car and drive to St. Paul to see Thomas. The exhibit is about to close and I was feeling the pressure to follow through on a whole lot of promises and self-created hype. So I loaded up the kids for a second day of field trip fun and went to see Thomas the Train.


Truth-be-told, the exhibit was a bit chaotic and made me sort of mother-tired. The kind of tired that's caused by too many interventions helping your kid share or helping another kid share or stopping little tantrums before they become large scale. I try not to hover too much, but when you have this many kids driving trains on one little island, it can get a bit crowded. And no one this age is skilled at sharing.

So we left that room and found the station where kids can paint their own faces. Elsie has found my lipstick before, and after this experience I am terrified (and fully aware) of what will happen the next time she finds it.


We visited every room at the Children's Museum and in every room Ivar complained that "Thomas isn't in this room!" He had no interest in the other exhibits until after lunch. With some cheese and crackers in his belly he seemed to mellow a bit.


The trip made for a fun adventure into the city. The sky-ways were a huge highlight and left me thinking we need to come back sometime with no destination and just run the sky-ways to burn off some energy. We sat for a while and watched cars and buses drive right under us. A sweet little memory.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you ever been to Lark Toys in Kellogg, Mn? They have Thomas trains, a carousel to ride on, and every you and book you could imagine for sale. It would be a great field trip. It's on highway 61 near Wabasha, I think.
Beth S.

[not the] Best Blog Ever said...

GREAT PICS! Reminds me that we have been meaning to take our kids there but haven't in a long time.

Nancy Holte said...

Did you know that there is also a train museum at Bandana Square? It has two parts. One with a huge model train exhibit and the other with lots of "hands on" stuff, plus some "no touch" exhibits. I bet on a weekday it would be a fun place to visit. In a month or two, after you've recovered from this trip.

Rachel said...

We brought Colin there on Kiera's first day of school and I thought the same thing about the train room! High anxiety for a mom of a 3 year old who does not do sharing, well. We stayed with the trains for about 5 minutes, he was ready to go too.