Adventures with the Richie girls (+ their dad)

Friday we had plans to be up and outta the house early...and this was of course the morning that not one, but both of my kids probably would have slept until 9 (murphy's law of parenting right?)

This is Scott after I opened the blinds and turned on the lights at 7:15 (we were trying to get out between 7:30 and 7:45, I was letting them go as long as possible)

Owen: lights and blinds, "five more minutes mom"

We finally made it to AZK's house (that's Andy, Zoey and Kenzie).  The boys waited patiently while we (ahem, Danny) loaded all the carseats into the same car (shout out to Andy for driving and having a sweet car we can all ride in together, its the little things truly, like a 45 min drive with one of your best friends, girl talk while the babies nap and the big kids watch Dora - bliss!)

 The baby littles

The big littles (Scott shoving his face with food, we may or may not have bribed them to get into their seats with chocolate.  Look at Zoey's face, yep that's a bribe face!)

Destination:  Pasadena's Kids Space Museum.  We arrived just in time for a little music concert.  Kenzie's face says it all.

My kids could not have possibly cared less about the music, they were too busy climbing.

Kenz got in on that as well.

Then we made our way to the next part of the museum.

  But not before crossing courtyard with these lovely fountains.  Owen LOVED it.  The grate he is standing on below shot water out of it at intervals (apparently none of which I captured).  Thankfully Andy, who had been here before, warned me about how much water play was involved so we dressed in our swim trunks and brought lots of changes of clothes.

There was so much to explore inside.  All 4 kiddos found so many fun things to get into.

Digging for dinosaur bones:

Kind of a terrible picture but there were several of these climbing structures inside.  This was in the "bug" section.  It was made of giant "leaves" you could use to climb to the ceiling, surrounded by these nets of course so it was perfectly safe.  I really wanted to climb all the way to the top but I couldn't get anyone to join me :(  Next time I hope.

Scott on his way up.

The art area was really neat

Owen waiting for his brush

There was a stream of water going down this leaf and a few tubs of water colors so the kids could paint on the leave and the colors would run together and then be washed off shortly after in order to start again.

It was really neat.  I participated too...I kind of want this in my house, or my office, it was amazingly therapeutic.

A real bee hive!  There was a tube that went up through the ceiling (like a tiny chimney) so the bees could come and go as they pleased.

Giant insects in "Bugsy's Cafe"

Zoey and Scott had a chance to order off the menu which included "water beetle sushi", "head louse salad" and "mosquito smoothie" to name a few.

Andy served them up in style and they thought it was HILARIOUS!!!

Then it was off to explore the physics garden outside after we ate our picnic lunch.

Shooting off bottle rockets

Racing weighted wheels

Building marble tracks

Quidditch (just kidding, but I wish)  Shooting ping pong balls through hoops (this was a little hard for our kids)

The giant lever station (the employee would not leave Scott alone and kept quizzing him on why one was harder than the other,  lady he's 3,  we are not here for him to walk away with he physics thesis written, we are here for him to learn through play, let the kid play.  Scott would answer with "I don't know" and she told "well think about it." We avoided her after that.

Ball bouncing station

After the physics forest (that Scott cannot wait to take his Papa (the physicist) back there soon, and Papa feel free to teach him what you will because I know you won't do it obnoxiously like that one employee) we found the bike track.  These two cruised and cruised and Scott was so happy to have Zoey as his passenger.

 Next to the bike track was a play area for the baby littles which kept them entertained while the big kids rode around.

Water table

When S and Z were all done riding, then playing on the play ground with their younger siblings, we continued our outdoor exploration where we found these water guns to spray onto a full drum set.  Can you think of anything more fun?  S and Z loved it and it really sounded so pretty.

There was also a spider web to climb.  A garden to explore and water and a creek to wade in and wade we did.  Probably what we did could be more categorized as swimming but since the water wasn't deep enough to really swim I will say wade.  Lets just say we came out SOAKED and hence why I have no other pictures, all cameras and phones were stored somewhere safe and dry for our water escapades.  

All in all it was a great adventure.  I highly recommend the museum if you find yourself in the area.  So much exploring and learning for all ages.  I know my two had a blast and we are already making plans to go back (Mimi and Papa in tow - we know how much you'll love it!!!).  If you go just avoid any wannabe physics teachers and bring dry clothes! Yay science!