The Greatest Place on...the North Side!

Well it wasn't Disney World, but the Pittsburgh Children's Museum came pretty close to capturing the same kind of awe and amazement for Brady and his little friend Isaac. And I won't lie: I was pumped to be there, too!

We started off our morning with a snack, which is why Brady looks so distraught in the photo below; I was holding his box of raisins while talking to my friend Katie and never even heard his little "Peeze, rays, peeze!" Ooops! Sorry about that, Brady!

After our morning snack, the boys took off like mad men in the direction of Mister Roger's Neighborhood...whereupon they immediately bypassed the serene setting of his couch and house plant. I was a little disappointed because I personally wanted to climb the tree in the Land of Make Believe, but Brady and Isaac had other plans. We went into a room where they could press buttons and control images on a TV screen, but that only held their interest for about .4 seconds. They began pummeling the Plexiglas that encased the creepiest looking dolls and puppets I have ever seen so we gladly moved on to the next room.

Creepy--told ya.

The next room was like heaven on earth for Brady: it had trains, books, a big fish tank, a life-size Light Bright, bells, and a variety of items he could throw at his leisure. He steered clear of the sand table which I found amusing--wonder how he'll do on our vacation to the beach this year?!

"Shish," or fish

Both boys really got a kick out of the train tables. They were the real deal, heavy duty trains and both Katie and I were afraid that if the boys decided they wanted to throw those, someone would lose an eye. But everyone was very well behaved! I really liked a little space on one of the back walls that was designated for grown-ups. There was a sign that asked for the "best parenting advice you were ever given." A ton of parents had contributed their thoughts on Post-It notes and I joined the fun, too. My advice: "If you hear 'uh-oh,' it's already too late." This came after hearing a splash and then a small voice yelp, "Uh oh!" earlier that morning. Apparently Brady thought my lotion wanted to go swimming in the toilet, but that's a story for another day...

Friends :-)

Biggest Light Bright!

While at one of the stations, a grandmother actually began nudging Brady and Isaac out of the way to make room for her grandsons! We figured it was time to move on. And move on we did: to the water room!!

So adorable!

The water room has a space where water shoots out from the walls and floors, as well as huge pools for kids of every age and height. There were boats and fish and whales and other water toys and the boys just LOVED it all! We spent the majority of our time in there, which is why I had ample opportunity to almost fall in and drown. Okay, the drowning part may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at one point I bent over the side of a 2-foot pool to get Brady the "ellow shish" (yellow fish) and I didn't quite gauge the weight or challenge of my baby belly. I went plunging forward, caught myself, and was then soaked up to the elbows. Despite the momentary embarrassment and cold arms, the boy got his "ellow shish" back.

The damn fish.

Brady couldn't help himself and started naming all of the colors around him, including stuff that was outside, on posters, or in other people's clothes. Of course I loved it when some of the other mothers were like, "Oh, my, he's so smart!" Shortly thereafter, he hurled a water toy at another kid and the splash made her cry, so my pride was short-lived.

Post-hurl.

The water room was awesome, but it was also...wet. Duh, right? Luckily I had talked to a few moms who were experienced in the ways of the water room so I knew to bring extra clothes and socks. Thank goodness I did! The only thing that wasn't soaked on Brady was his head, and that's clearly courtesy of the adorable yellow rain slicker!!!

Check out those shoes!!!!

After our wardrobe change, we headed back downstairs to a room that can only be described as complete insanity. There were kids (and parents) everywhere! But there were also movable/build-able racetracks, BALLS, slides, tools, a car, magnets, stuff flying in the air--Brady went into sensory overload and never quite did recover! The first thing he did was run over to an adorable little girl and rip a big green ball out of her hands. I apologized to her parents and then had to run after Brady who was stalking another child with a red ball.

At the back of the room, there was this contraption shaped like a cow, and you were supposed to "feed" it these little soft balls. You could watch the ball go through the gears and different movable parts inside the cow and then at the very end, you guessed it, the ball came flying out of the cow's behind. Both Brady and Isaac got a big kick when the balls came squirting out, but they much preferred the instant gratification of shoving the ball into the behind and only having to wait 2 seconds, as opposed to a full 10, for it to come shooting back out into a bucket. At one point Brady was bending over the bucket to get more balls for the shoving and wouldn't ya know it--he got hit right in the head! As this was a bit traumatic for the boy, I didn't have a chance to take any pictures of this room, but I will always cherish the memory of the pseudo-poo the mechanical cow took on my son's head. :-)

After lunch, Brady and I were back on the road to home. He was sound asleep even before we hit Route 28; suffice it to say, the Museum wore him out!

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On an unrelated note, Zach's annual Coaches Clinic is this weekend at the Radisson in Greentree. Last year, I went down on Saturday, we had dinner with a few of his friends, and then stayed the night in the big suite they had left over from the clinic. We've decided that this should be a tradition for us since our nights alone are definitely numbered these days! So tomorrow, I'll head downtown (after a play date and an overdue Christmas exchange with Aunt Jen and Lani!), and Brady will be whisked away for a fun-filled night at Gram and Pap's! Knowing that Brady will be having a blast with the grandparents, coupled with the fact that I know the most amazing carrot cake resides at the Radisson in Greentree, I am sure this Saturday night will be a good one!

At home practicing his letters and numbers. So far, he knows P, Q, R, O, S, 8 and 9!