1.21.12

turns out that the Chattanooga Children's Museum

is way cooler than the one in Atlanta

all the more reason to visit you, Papa :)

1.20.12

I worked in the Harvard Museum of Natural History for 3 years

so it was only natural

for us to become members of Atlanta's own history museum

Fernbank

bonus? we can (literally) run there in about 10 minutes.

i foresee many trips to the science center this winter and summer...

hooray for educational playtime in a controlled climate!

1.16.12

it was princess day at the Imagine It! Children's Museum

somehow* we ended up at the Aquarium instead

and stuck out like sore thumbs

let's just say that the girls didn't mind 

the attention 

of being the only princesses in the land...

*apparently when the America's Mart is in full swing, prices in Atlanta parking lots jump 200% and this cheapskate (ahem, me) would rather not pay those fees!

Fee Fi Fo Fun

the Cuties' favorite museum in Atlanta is by far 

the Children's Museum

We typically go every Monday

they do not allow school groups or field trips that day

and, if you get there right when it opens,

you're basically the first and only people in attendance

for at least 20-minutes

that means we get to be the ones to mess everything up first

(which i feel very badly about & initially try to chase after the girls 

attempting to put everything back in their proper places 

but then i realize its a futile effort once even one more family arrives)

J and I thought long and hard about getting the girls

a train table for Christmas. They love this play area!

*in the end, we got them a great dollhouse--

something the children's museum does not have

another fan/fam favorite is the moon dough

I could play with this myself the entire time

Cutie Cakes decided she wanted to be an antagonist

and smashed/stole/destroyed Cutie Face's "cupcakes"

three times in a row.

resulting in a lovely time-out...

in the middle of the children's museum

awesome

nothing a "sorry mommy. sorry cutie face" couldn't fix

or a well-timed snack break for that matter!

all in all, a good diversion from the house

filled with lots of lessons on how to behave & interact in public!

the bonus is,

you're surrounded by families/moms/kids that completely understand 

the situation you are currently in 

since they are more than likely in the same place as us!

1.7.12

today

we went

museum hopping

Cutie Face had a blast

playing with the puppets

at the Center of Puppetry Arts

check out her priceless facial expression for proof!

(you might need to click on the picture to make it big enough to see)

Fernbank fun

After a fun-filled 2.5 days at Mimi and Poppy's house, we headed back down to the city, just in time for a little learning action at the local natural history museum.

funny story: when I was in middle school we took a 7th-grade class trip to Fernbank. While waiting to board the vans back to school, all the girls went to the restroom. Post-bathroom break, we waited around in the lobby being goofy middle schoolers. Sadly, it wasn't until we were about to depart that a friend let me know I'd tucked my skirt into my panties. up. That was lovely. And, up until a year or so ago, was the only memory I'd retained from Fernbank! Glad the Cuties and I could make a few new memories today!

Cutie Face wasn't too sure what to think of the three dinosaurs out front...

here she is running away!

Once inside we were met with a larger dinosaur in the atrium:

She felt much more secure with the fossilized skeleton!

checking out the enormity of the dinosaur--HUGE 

our friends that took us to the museum had a quick photo-op in the photo booth. Cutie Face wanted to join them but didn't want to join the Cakester and I in our weekly self-portrait. Oh well :)

i f 

The Fernbank is renovating their children's play section but they saved a few items for kids to play with during the renovation process....one was their fun boat...and the other was their scary corn on the wall--isn't that freaky? i thought so.

The last stop was the hands-on exhibit. The toddlers were a little young for most of the (super informative and educational) sections but they found a few that were pretty exciting:

{shadows}

{electricity}

{pressure? i didn't read the informational plaque!}

Once we were out the door, Cutie Face said goodbye to the dinosaurs...this time from a safe distance!

thanks so much for the Fernbank Fun, Miss W & A!

All Aboard!

Today was the very last day that Bank of America is sponsoring their "Muesums on Us" program at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. J and I, of course, did not want to miss our last chance for a free entry so we decided to visit--even though it was only 42-degrees when we arrived!

Not to fear, Cutie Face was dressed for the occasion in her "ski outfit". She greeted the frog but didn't like sitting next to him--perhaps it reminded her of Santa? We convinced her to touch his knee, and that made sitting next to him tolerable.

After the frog adventure we went through the Caterpillar Metamorphosis trail. Let me tell you--what a difference a month makes. This time, we were the only family in it! I guess that is what cold weather does to people in Atlanta :)

Cutie Face couldn't help but stop and hug the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) mascots. She was afraid of them when we saw them at the Pink Pig grand opening but she liked them (loved them!) much better today:

We tried to get her to do a quick photo op in front of the poinsettia plants but she wasn't into smiling. Finally, J started singing "the ABCs" and she perked right up!

The Botanical Garden was celebrating Miniature Trains in their green house. You'll have to click on this collage to get the gist of it. She signed "train" over and over and over again and then signed "again" whenever it would chug on by. She looooved watching it come through the tunnels. It was a huge highlight for her!

We capped it all off with a "real" train experience (ie a train on a golf cart). It was so much fun to experience that with her! The conductor was great and weaved in and out and tooted the train whistle all the time.

She loved waving to J out the window and had a HUGE smile on her face the whole time. Too much fun!

I'm glad we went All Aboard! and experienced the Botanical Garden one last time in 2009!

We ❤ Museums on Us!

As Bank of America customers, we get the privilege of visiting a number of museums and local attractions for FREE every first weekend of the month! Woohoo!!!

This weekend we went back to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

A lot has changed since we last visited, and I'm not just talking about Cutie Face! The Gardens expanded and are gorgeous and even more beautiful than last year.

One thing has not changed, though--they are still holding their annual Scarecrows in the Garden exhibit this Fall!

This year we actually remembered to bring our camera! (too bad it did die on us half way through but you'll get the gist after the thousands of pics you'll see in this post!).

A baby scarecrow:

This was J's favorite: Julia Child's Scarecrow!

My favorite was Curious George (remember? My other blog is Monkey's on the Bed! How could i not like anything monkey?)

We also had the privilege of viewing many of Henry Moore's incredible sculptures. They are even more beautiful in person AND embedded in nature!

Their Children's Garden is pretty fun, too, with cooling fountains and water areas (perfect in HOTlanta!)

Cutie Face loved playing in their caterpillar walk--basically a winding path that leads you through the life of a caterpillar:

and, at the very end, you get to leave as a butterfly!

If you are ever in Atlanta, I think that the Botanical Garden is one of our best attractions! We loved it today!

Please Come to Boston...{part 1}

She said...YES!

We had the chance to visit Boston and Cambridge (our old stomping grounds for three years). I couldn't believe that we hadn't been back since June 2008! Cutie Face got to meet a lot of our friends and visit our old haunts.

Visiting the Harvard Museum of Natural History, where I used to work:

she was really quite taken by this cat and kept going back to it

I couldn't pass up a flower picture of my floral-wearing headband girl in front of the Glass Flowers exhibit

and, of course, a Monkeys-on-the-Bed! shot:

Souvenir from daddy's alma mater:

Stay tuned for Part 2 (running through Boston) and Part 3 (visiting the Vineyard)