Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Longmont Museum

The Longmont Museum has a Honkytonk exhibit through April 11.  In addition to all the very hands-on exhibits the museum usually features, this particular gem includes a stage with an electric guitar (plugged in to a speaker), an acoustic guitar and a piano, as well as basic instruction on how to play the instruments.  The kids can handle the instruments in any way they like and can play for as long as they like.  Very fun.  Tonight they had a bluegrass concert.  Spencer liked a bit of it, but he's only 2, so his attention span is short and we ended up playing with the interactive watertable display.  They also have a great observatory room upstairs, including costumes, books, an amazing view, blocks, magnet fun, and a lot of other things to touch, try out and explore.  We really like the museum; it is appropriate for a surprisingly young age, and the kids can touch an astonishing number of things.  It is free (or "donations accepted," so as much as you feel like dropping into the display container) and completely worth your time.  Spencer had a lot of fun.



My husband came home tonight, and it is so nice to have our family back together again.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Stephen Day Park, Chick-Fil-A

Luna Moms had a meetup at Stephen Day Park today.  We generally have a good time at this park.  It is a good stroll from the parking lot to the park, which has pros and cons.  When you are hauling a screaming child back to the car against their will, or realize that you have left the diaper bag or cell phone on the passenger seat, it is a definite con.  When you are enjoying an astoundingly gorgeous spring day as your toddler nicely holds your hand and sings the alphabet song while you trot off to meet up with friends, it is a wonderful plus.  The hills are picturesque.  According to the City of Longmont website, there is a discovery theme at this park, with lots of features that I honestly never noticed.  It is next to an elementary school, which can be really bad - Spencer notices their cool and varied playground equipment, especially if we are at the park during recess hours, and finds poor Stephen Day to be inferior to all the great stuff at the school next door.  But there is a skate park, mountain bike area, rope climbing structure, full size basketball court, lots of grassy area to run on, interesting hills to run up and down, and a nicely laid out and well-marked running path that is very wide and well-suited to pushing your jogging stroller on.  (I have done this, but honestly, only once.  I should do that again.)  We visited here several times before we noticed that there is sand in the volleyball area, and usually no volleyball players, and this has added a lot to our enjoyment of the park.  It also has several of those odd playground features - the red bucket that makes you want to hurl as you spin in it, and the black triangles you sit on and have someone spin for you until, again, you feel nauseous.  Spencer loves both options, both for himself and as a vehicle for spinning wood chips, so I appreciate seeing them.  The very best part of Stephen Day Park isn't open yet, and that is the interactive water spray garden, which is fantastic and completely free.  Looking forward to that.  This park doesn't always keep Spencer's attention as long as some of the others, as there is a limited amount of stuff that he can do yet and no adult swings or bouncy horses, but today, we had a ton of people there and great food, so it worked out ok.  He somehow stole three cupcakes over the course of two hours, so I'm sure he felt like it was a very effective afternoon.

After nap time, we took advantage of the incredible weather and planted peas, dug a new bed in the garden, played basketball and baseball, explored the sandbox, and pulled out the sand-water table for the season.  While we were at it, we pulled dandelions, spotted the first crocus of the year (yellow!) and washed the dog.  After all of that, I was exhausted.  Spencer was somehow still energetic, and since my husband was still away on a business trip, we went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner.

We try not to go too often, but we love this place.  The play area is clean and completely enclosed, with enough stuff to keep Spencer happy for more than an hour.  You get free balloons from each trip, yielding great joy through the next day.  The kids' meals are reasonably priced and can have fruit salad instead of fries.  The under-3 toy is a board book, or can be an ice cream cone, if you'd prefer.  I like the chicken sandwiches and the fresh-squeezed lemonade.  (I found a lemon seed in mine tonight, so I believe that they really do sit in the back room and squeeze lemons, which I find somehow appealing.)  Of course the waffle fries are exciting, and the fruit salad is great.  I am not a fan of their soup, and the chicken on their salad is not the same as the sandwich chicken (and was inedibly bad the last time I got it), so stick with the classic and you won't be disappointed.  The staff is almost always extremely polite - they carry things, come to your table to offer drink refills, and ma'am you to death.  It's nice.  But the whole point of this place is the playroom, and tonight didn't disappoint.  My toddler, who decided that pushing was the best way to get up the steps first, might have disappointed a bit, but the restaurant was nice.

My husband doesn't travel much, at least when we are not with him.  I have enjoyed the time to myself, but I have missed him, and of course Spencer has asked about him nonstop. 

One of the moms mentioned today at the playground that she is due in late September.  I was genuinely happy for her, of course, but also a little sad for myself.  We had a miscarriage a few weeks ago, and it was a bit of a shock to hear my friend's due date and realize, "oh, I would have been 12 weeks now, wouldn't I."  Somehow I hadn't thought of that.  My OB had told me to not be surprised to be sad and angry when I ran into women who would have been on the same pregnancy track as me, but it really hadn't occurred to me until today.  I am grateful for our good medical insurance, as the bills from the surgery and the blood draws and ultrasounds and doctor's visits keep rolling in.  I am grateful to my husband for providing that insurance for our family; I am grateful that my sadness does not have to be tempered with panic over how to pay for all this. 

I waited longer than I wanted to wait to begin to have my family, and I am often grateful that I did wait.  I am more patient now, and I chose a better father for my children than I would have picked when I was younger.  My husband is a great father, and every time I see evidence of that, I feel more and more loving towards him.  I know very well how many not-great fathers there are out there.  Before I had kids, I worried a lot about choosing one of them for my children.  You don't always know who will be patient and sweet and adoring with their children; sometimes people surprise you.  As a stay-at-home mom, I am also very grateful to my husband for making our comfortable life possible.  I know that that is probably not the most culturally acceptable statement I've ever made, but it is still true.  It is not an easy thing to slog to work every day.  Few people really love to do it.  But his doing it makes everything I get to do with Spencer possible - days at the park, time at the pool, afternoons spent playing basketball and gardening in the sunshine, Spencer's music or cooking or tumbling classes.  All he would have to do to end this beautiful life is to quit his job, and suddenly everything would be gone, just like that.  So I'm grateful to him.  I hope that he knows that he is appreciated.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Easter egg hunt, Pearl Street Mall

The Luna Moms meetup group really is fantastic.  If you haven't joined yet, you should!  They hosted an Easter egg hunt playdate today.  Spence had a great time, and claimed 9 eggs for his mommy.  He played hard and was very ready for his nap when we got home.

We were buying a basketball hoop from one of the moms on one of the local Yahoo mom groups.  We have been seeking an outdoor toddler basketball hoop for quite some time, so this was very exciting.  We drove to Boulder for the pick up, and afterwards, Spencer got to play for awhile at the North Boulder Park.  We have driven by this park before, but hadn't stopped, and I was glad we did.  Plenty of friendly parents and kids, a great slide setup for the little ones, and a nice climbing area and curly slide for the bigger kids.  Spencer sampled the smaller play structure before heading for the curly slide.  Since Rope World, he has a lot more confidence that he can handle big metal ladders, and today was no exception.  He scrambled up the curved and straight ladders like a little monkey, took turns nicely, loved the bouncy horses, etc.  I seem to have figured out how to alert him that we are leaving soon without getting him upset, as he trotted off to the car willingly, even though I know he wanted to keep playing.

My husband was out of town, so there was no rush to get home, and I realized that Spencer hasn't spent much time on the Pearl Street Mall.  I found a parking spot and got out the stroller.  He loved the fiddler.  He loved the various stores, especially the one that is full of kites and wind-up toys; he saw his first blacklight room there, and was very excited about that.  Next time, I will plan to put him in white clothing so that he can really enjoy it.  We had a great dinner at Lindsay's Boulder Deli.  Spence liked the tomato soup and helped me eat a TBA.  They have high chairs and are reasonably kid-friendly. Plus, they have cool hand chairs.  (They also have great coupons on their website - next time, I will have to take advantage of that.)

After dinner, we strolled over to Ben and Jerry's.  I know that Haagen-Daas makes fantastic ice cream, but the blackberry frozen yogurt at Ben and Jerry's is my all-time favorite.  (The Haagen-Daas pineapple coconut is pretty amazing too.)  Spence worked on mastering the fine art of eating a kid cone before we went to the climbing rocks to play. 

We drove home for bath and bedtime as the trees turned black against the sunset.  Such a lovely day.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Colorado Railroad Museum

We took advantage of the gorgeous Spring weather and drove to Golden to visit the Colorado Railroad Museum.  If your little one likes trains, this is definitely the place for you - worth the drive, especially when they have trains running.  (They often have steam trains on Saturdays - you can check the schedule here.)  The museum store is great, generally reasonably priced (as museum stores go), and if you are a member, you receive a discount.  They also have the most lax membership rules of any children's museum around - a family membership gives you admission for two adults and up to seven children, and they don't care who the adults are.  That is, you can send the grandparents with your kids to the museum with your pass, or can take a friend and their kids, etc.  Most places will not allow such flexible admission on an annual pass. 

They do have a changing counter in the ladies' room.  It is quite bare bones and does not have a pad, so bring your own changing pad.  The bathrooms in general are old and reminded me of campground bathrooms, but were clean and completely adequate.  They did not sell any kind of food (at least not that I saw), but do sell bottled water in the gift shop and have soda machines on the grounds.  They have lots of picnic tables and don't seem to have any policy against bringing your own food. 

They open various cars, engines, etc. for the kids to go inside and inspect.  They can bounce on the seats or beds in the passenger cars, play with the gears and levers in the engines, ring the bells, etc.  They have trains going from the 1800s up, with an impressive variety.  Use caution and common sense - these are old trains, not designed for use as children's toys.  Make sure the wood looks secure and nothing looks sharp before turning your kids loose.  There are things on display that you wouldn't want your small child touching.

As you first enter the museum, you pass through the store, and be aware that there is a great train table set up with a ton of interesting features.  If your child won't want to give up the train table easily, you'll want to shuttle them directly to the back of the store.  They also sell a ton of Thomas stuff (engines, roundhouses, take-along Thomas, etc.). 

Downstairs, they have an elaborate and wonderful automated train set up.  As long as you keep depositing quarters, your little one will be in heaven.  They have chairs for your child to stand on to better view the train excitement, but you will probably end up having to hold your child up until they are tall enough - probably 3 or 4.  If you have a Kelty backpack, I'd suggest bringing it to give your arms a break. 

All in all, a great excursion for a very happy little boy.


On our way home, we drove past the Southern Sun brew pub.  We used to live in the Table Mesa area in Boulder, and we always loved this place.  Now that we have a child, we like it even more.  First of all, it is a noisy, friendly environment, so no matter how much noise your kid makes, you are unlikely to feel self-conscious.  The people are relaxed and friendly.  The food is good, including the kids' menu, and the beer is fantastic.  There are no tv's, which is nice.  The fries are great, and so is the basil-blue burger.  They have a ton of vegetarian options, a nice beer sampler, and will accommodate any special request I've ever had.  They are a cash-only situation, so keep that in mind - no credit cards accepted.

I'll add that we are not big fans of the Mountain Sun pub, as it is very campus-y, and has always been very crowded when we have visited.  It is worth the drive to South Boulder.  Also, if you join the email list for the pubs, they will email you a coupon for a free pint.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Rope World

We took Spencer to the 6:15 session of Rope World.  If your toddler is willing to try new things, I highly recommend trying out RW.  There are so many things to try, including a zip line, climbing wall, balance beams that can be walked on or slid down, tunnels to crawl through, nets to climb, rope walkways, ropes to climb, foam triangles to roll or somersault down - a ton of stuff. 

Our first time there, Spencer was not yet two, and I was terrified.  He fell flat on his face trying the zip line the first time, with a terrible smacking sound as he hit the mats.  He was unfazed, however, and spent all of his time on the rope swings.  At the playground the next week, his new-found confidence was evident, and so was his new sense of balance.  We went to the 4:15 session that time, and while all the kids were polite and patient, it was a bit crowded.

The next time, we went to the 6:15 session with my husband.  Spence tried the zip line again but couldn't quite manage it - but he didn't fall.  He climbed ladders higher than my husband's head, played on the rope swings a lot, and enjoyed the balance beams.  He did a lot more than I thought he could, and I was impressed.  The next time we went to the playground, Spencer could do all of the slides, climb several of the ladders, and had no fear in tackling nets.  I was amazed.  Every time we go, his confidence in his body and his abilities just skyrockets.

This time, we went to the 6:15 session again.  This is the session I prefer, I think - not crowded at all.  Spence did almost everything except the rope walkway, which I don't think he's quite tall enough for.  He rode the zip line again and again without falling, and was able to follow the proper protocol (dragging the rope back for the next kid in line, waiting for his turn patiently, etc.).  He had a great time and didn't want to leave. 

He looks so tiny climbing ladders, clinging to zip line handles, trying to wrap his legs around the rope swing.  Part of me can't help but worry about his tiny breakable body.  But we are spotting him, and are careful with him, and most of me is proud that he is brave and fearless and happy, and that we are teaching him to be active when he is so small.

Itty Bitty City

dEarly Spring mornings can be tough.  It is too cold to play outside for long periods without a lot of bundling.  (Or rather, Spencer would play outside no matter what the weather, but I don't want to stand around in 30 degree weather saying, "good sliding!" for very long.)  So today, we decided to try Itty Bitty City

We have heard a lot about the IBC, but had never been.  For $2 for two hours of playtime, though, how bad could it be?

In fact, it is not bad at all.  There were lots of toys of a wide variety - everything from Easter Bunny coloring stations to toy cars to two cozy coupes.  Lots of different kind of trikes, including ones to pedal and ones to scoot, were on offer.  There was a kid-size basketball hoop, an astonishing quantity of balls of all sizes, a giant parachute, two tunnels, giant building blocks, a trampoline, a balance beam...  They also have many pairs of roller skates.  Spence got to try them for the first time and did very well - he only fell once!  He was sorry to leave after two hours.

There did seem to be a lot of moms who didn't supervise their kids at all.  It is surprising to me that moms of preschoolers find this to be a relaxing place to sip their Starbucks and ignore their offspring.  While IBC seemed very safe, most two-year-olds still need help going across the balance beam, and learning to share (and not shove or swat) is easier when mom is nearby to say, "no - we share with our friends!"  There was free water and coffee outside the door, and the office staff didn't flinch at running a credit card for $2.  Apparently I am not the only mom who never has cash on hand.

Afterwards, we stopped by Once Upon a Child.  OUAC is great for used toys, and they are running a buy two, get one free special on their books.  I find this place to be very hit or miss.  Sometimes winter coats for toddlers are still $30+, even in March, which seems strange to me.  But Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles can be had for $2 or $4, and they frequently seem to have interesting toys - great wooden push toys, interesting Little People options, etc.  We got a Little People circus toy today for $4, and Spencer was in heaven.  They do not have shopping carts with lap belts, which seems like an odd failing for a children's store, but they do have a play area where you can trap your child while you shop for toys, and they sell great snack cups. 

If you find something great at OUAC that is missing a few pieces (like our new circus toy, or the wonderful Laugh and Learn Kitchen), check the manufacturer's website when you get home.  Most of the Fisher-Price/Mattel stuff has replacement parts available on the website for surprisingly reasonable prices - including replacement stickers, which can be great for used toys that have been well-loved.  A Laugh and Learn Kitchen with no accessories can cost around $6, and the manufacturer's website will send you replacements for the balls, shapes to sort, letters for the mailbox, keys for the door, etc., for under $10.  A used Laugh and Learn Kitchen with all the accessories can be more than $30 on craigslist or at OUAC.

Tonight, we are planning to go to Rope World.  We've been twice before, with good results, so I am hopeful for a great night tonight.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Luna Moms Meetup

Our friend Ingrid turned us on to the Luna Moms Meetup Group, and we love them.  Elaine, the group's founder, is incredibly fit and enthusiastic and welcoming and fun, and while she has several businesses (including Stroller Strides and Moxie Moms), she is not pushy about them.  That is, you know they are there, and she would love to tell you all about them, but there is no pressure to join anything or sign up for anything or pay for anything.  The group is very active - tons of playdates, MNO (mom's night out) opportunities, etc.  And the moms in the group are great too - fun, friendly, and welcoming.  We have made some good friends here.  If you haven't joined the group, I would really recommend it!

Tonight, Moxie Moms sponsored a meetup at the Corner Coffee Bar.  I was sorry to have to go home - I had a wonderful time.  Corner Coffee seems like a really nice place.  The coffee was good, the chocolates were excellent, the cherry kuchen was delicious, and it was all free.  No complaints here!  They have booths, tables, couches, etc.  Very warm and cozy.  I didn't see any toys, and I didn't check the bathroom for a changing table, so I can't comment on how baby-friendly they are, but I am definitely willing to go back and find out.  They are starting a system so that you can text them your drink order and they'll have it ready and waiting for you - details are at http://www.splickit.com/  They also have a free $5 drink with your first Splickit order, so it is worth trying.