More Children's Museum

To continue off from yesterday's post...

The "Bob the Builder" corner of the kids' museum was an HUGE hit with the little ones! They spent more time in that exhibit exploring all the different activities than anywhere else!

In this photo little nephew is driving one of Bob's buddies. (I don't watch the show as my kids are now teens but no doubt some mothers out there know who these characters are!)

Little nephew then went to another character - I'm not sure what this guy does. Little nephew decided to stack bricks along the dashboard and here you see him hard at work. His big brother moved some of the bricks in between little nephew's trips to bring more back and *whew* was he upset when he got back! The bricks had to be STRAIGHT mister! When he was finished stacking them 4 or 5 rows high he then carefully carried them back to put them away.

This contraption was fascinating to all the kids. On this side the child pushes the ball into a hole and then suction grabs the ball, forcing it up the pipe you can see behind my niece's head. Then, on the other side of this box, there is a spigot the child must turn for the balls to fall out (into a waiting bucket). It's up to the kids to bring the balls back and repeat the procedure. Which they did quite happily. Over and over and over and.....aaaarghh!

Eventually Big nephew and I were successful in sheparding the kids to other areas. Next up were a couple of vehicles - Little nephew's passion. Obviously not just his as Big nephew is doin' some dreaming in the back there! Keep up your dayjobs, boys, that pretty toy is pricey!!

Another area was the ship centre. The kids could grab some cargo and move it to the dock. You can see niece hard at work while little nephew looks on. After this shot he jumped down into the cargo and didn't wait for his turn. Little niece is a serious girl who concentrates on the task at hand. The cargo made it safely to shore.

Next up was a mini car of some sort ~ I'm thinking it was a mini Cooper. Little nephew LOVED this car as it was just his size! He actually persuaded his big brother to get in so he could drive him somewhere. Big brother (big nephew) is a bit tall to fit comfortably as plainly visible. It required some great contortions to get himself out of there. He's game for it all though - no wonder his siblings adore him (and Auntie too!).

We also hit up the bakery. While big nephew and I sat at one of the tables the shop's staff went behind the scenes to cook us up some pizza and fruit. Little nephew was hard at work creating some bread rolls for us to munch on before our meal arrived.

Meanwhile my niece was busy preparing the dessert. My did we "eat" a lot at that place! The kids loved creating dishes from the food, utensils and cookware. There were chef hats but there weren't any spare ones for my little ones; some older kids did a fair bit of hogging of everything until I stepped in and liberated some items for my niece and nephew.

Fun displays like the one here were placed in strategic spots to gaze at. I can't imagine the hours of work that went into this miniature house! It was behind glass as were the other miniature dioramas around the museum.

Moving on to another little building we came to the clothing design shop. Looking up was colourful with much for the eye to see. In this place happy green bugs held tight to fabric. No matter where your eye rests in this museum, there is an explosion of colour and knick-knacks. Truly amazing!

Bringing the eyes down we come to the one of the fashion design areas. Niece was quite busy designing some new clothing for the coming season. With the different stamps and colours available all kinds of fabrics and textures might be rolled out for the fall season! In the foreground a couple of dummy models are visible, for trying on various clothes.

While niece was designing away in one part of the "showplace" the boys were busy in the other half. As a purchaser for my clothing store, the two were responsible for bringing samples of their wares to me, so I could peruse the selection and make my choices. The mirrored wall behind them was indeed warped and my goodness, I liked the skinny frame! I could almost picture myself QUITE a bit lighter!

Little nephew also did some design work in between ringing up customers. Here he displays one of his latest designs for the fashion shows to note.

Then we went tropical long enough to take another picture. Little niece was bright and colourful that day so I shoved her in with a bunch of palm trees and told her to smile. Being quite a good sport, she did. I told her the picture would look like she was in a jungle and indeed it does. I'll be making some hard copy prints to send her shortly, where she can clap in delight over her "travels" that day.

Here we were done with the children's museum. We were waiting for my sister to show up after work (she worked close by) and niece was a little tired out. I just quietly called her name and she turned to look at me. Before you think she never quite lightens up scroll down to the final picture....

Where she broke out into a grin at something I said. Don't you love those eyes??


Thus ends the tour of the kids' museum. These pictures are only a fraction of all the exhibits in there and if you have kids and ever visit Ottawa be SURE to put this on your list of places to see and do. It truly is a magical place for little ones and those who bring them there (although daughter and Alberta friend got some passports and cruised through the place too).

Next up will be when we moved outside for a little R&R. The kids ran and ran and ran. I turned the camera on to high speed and snapped away. Stay tuned....