So today, I loaded up Ainsley in the car and took her to the Hands On Children's Museum. She absolutely LOVES that place. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I could hear her in the backseat, squirming against her car seat restraints. She was making this noise, kind of reminded me of a new born puppy. When I unbuckled her, she was in my arms like a little monkey. I have never seen her like that before. She was SO stinkin' excited!
We signed in and the placed was PACKED. I meandered through the museum to the First Adventures room, which is a room for kids under 3. It's great. It's like a giant toybox full of all sorts of toys. They kids can tear into the place and you can relax on the bench or in a comfy rocking chair, knowing that you DO NOT have to pick up after your kid! Where else can you do that??? Nowhere!
There was one grandmother with her granddaughter, who was maybe just under 3. She was playing quietly in the corner. Ainsley charges into the room and immediately brings the room to life. There is so much there for the kids to do, they almost seem manic, going from one toy to the next like there just isn't enough time to see them all. Ainsley is a little Toddler Tornado anyway, but put her in a room that is packed wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with toys, and it is an AMAZING site to behold!
A few minutes later, 2 other Mommies come in the room. Both have little girls and one has a tiny little baby in a stroller. They were coming in to use the changing station room that is attached to the First Adventures room. They were supposed to use it and leave, as their girls were older than 3. Did that happen? Nope. Was it a problem? Well, it wouldn't have been if the one girl had not been so FRICKIN" loud. She kept screaming at the other girl, who was doing a superb job of ignoring her. "AUBREY, AUBREY, AUBREY. LOOK AT THIS! THIS IS FOR BABIES. I"M GONNA RIDE IT! AUBREY AUBREY AUBREY. CRAWL THROUGH THIS TUNNEL AFTER ME. GET IN THE WAGON SO I CAN PULL YOU AUBREY, GET IN RIGHT NOW! WHY IS HER IN MY WAY (speaking of poor Ainsley who was shell-shocked)?" This went on for about half an hour, until the Mommies decided to load up their ginormous kids (seriously, they were like 5!) and go back out to the big kid areas.
The room was VERY quiet after they left. Peaceful, really.
Ainsley continued to play in that room for another 45 minutes or so. I decided it was time to leave that room when one of the employees came in and decided that NOW was the perfect time to come in and disinfect toys. BRILLIANT!!! Of course, the cleaners that she was using were very potent, and they almost immediately set off my allergies. I was wheezing and my eyes were watering. AWFUL STUFF! What would they have done if one of those kids had been asthmatic and the cleaners set off a serious asthma attack? Seriously, some people just do not think before they do. Children, especially small children, should NOT be around strong chemical smells for any reason.
We left the First Adventures room and ventured out to the "Big Kid" area. Ainsley was in awe. She immediately found the big kid ballpit, which was void of children. So, I took our shoes off and in we went. Well, in Ainsley went. I had a little bit of a harder time getting in. Imagine this........ I am sitting at the top of the little staircase that leads into the ballpit. I had just deposited Ainsley into the balls. One leg is over the top of the stairs, in the ballpit. The other leg in still at the bottom of the staircase, 4 steps down. Me, being the INCREDIBLE GENIUS that I can be sometimes, am trying to figure out how to get the rest of the way into the ballpit. Instead of pulling the one leg out of the balls and climbing in head first like it is meant to be done, I choose to try and rip myself in 2. The adult human body is NOT meant to be manuvered around like that, let me tell you. WOW. After fighting for 5 minutes and dislocating both knees and a hip, I was in the ballpit with Ainsley.
She thought that the ballpit was GREAT until I decided to scoot around in front of her to get a picture. My scooting caused her to slide down, under the balls. All you could see was the tip top of her little blonde head. As you can imagine, she DID NOT care for this at all. She began screaming at the top of her little lungs, until I was able to scoot through the balls and pick her up. Moving fast in a pit of balls is not going to happen, no matter how hard you try. I promise you.
After I saved my child from the evil kid-eating balls, she decided to get out and go grocery shopping. She got a little cart and proceeded to cruise the aisles of the "grocery store". It was quite amusing to watch her shop. I never realized just how close she watches me when I shop, but it was a Mini Me experience. She scratched her head while looking at the produce. She picked the produce up and closely inspected it. She picked up boxes and turned them over, I am assuming to read the Nutrition Labels??? She chose her groceries very carefully, but she fell in love with the spices. Just like her Mommy. Even when I do not need any spices, I will stop and look and enjoy the smells. Guess it is a good thing I am not in the habit of scratching my bum while I grocery shop........
That was the end of our trip for the day. I loaded her up into her seat and home we went. She of course, stayed wide awake until we were 5 minutes from the house. The she was out cold. I tried to transfer her still sleep, into the house. No luck there. She woke up. Though she did end up sleeping for about 2.5 hours later.
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