Minnesota Children's Museum

We went early to the Minnesota Children's Museum to take advantage of the third Sunday free admission.

Is that a bench or a hockey stick?

Lots of other people had the same idea so we had to wait for a short while in line. Jacob wanted to go peepee but didn't get the chance till we made it through the line. Luckily, the potty was right around the corner. Even better, the urinal and the sinks were all set to his size. He had no problems using the equipment. Best of all, he didn't mind using the high powered hand dryer! It was so amazing, I took a picture.

Yeah, I took a picture of my child in the bathroom...can I get arrested for that?

We headed off to the exhibits. First stop was a construction work site. Jacob was able to operate a crane to lift a metal bar (actually made of grey foam) and put it in a nearby flatbed truck. He and I worked together for quite a while to get it done.

Jacob gets the lay of the land

Working the controls!

Lucy tries out the local fashion

Victory!

Nearby was an interactive exhibit on conveyor belts, including a belt that moved blocks up from the floor below. Jacob and Lucy both loved this exhibit since the foam blocks were easy to manipulate. They even had some communication tubes that let Jacob and I coordinate our efforts between the floors.

Lucy is ready to send her block down the chute

Didn't know that!

Jacob sends more blocks back upstairs (but not up the stairs)

Nearby was a water world. One exhibit let us make large bubbles. It was a little too challenging for Jacob and Lucy (they'd wave the bubble wands too quickly), so we moved on to the hydraulics section. They had a lot of fun splashing and playing with various tubes, ping pong balls, and water.

Where to start?

Lucy fills her cup

Mommy explains it with her fabulous scientific brain

We met some of the cousins here and they recommended going over to the little town. This town was like Storyville in Maryland but it was more like Storyopolis. They had all sorts of stores, homes, shops, restaurants, etc. to occupy the children. Lucy loved to cook in the kitchen of the restaurant with her cousins (or, to be technically accurate, her mom's cousins).

Lucy demonstrates her frying pan powers

Using the other stovetop (or "hob" as it's called here in the UK)

Then Lucy headed over to the grocery store to buy some things. This store had little shopping carts and semi-authentic checkouts. Some other girls we didn't know were pretty serious about playing checkout. Lucy was able to hand over her groceries for purchase. One girl would scan the items. Another loved putting all the groceries back on the shelves, which made me happy. I didn't have to return all of Lucy's overstuffed cart to where it belonged.

Shopping

Checkout

Lucy then went on to painting while Jacob went for a snack. Lucy enjoyed painting with a cousin and an aunt. They even got me to help out. We put our pictures on a drying rack but forgot to pick them up on the way out of the museum.

Lucy and her many color choices

We tried to go to the live animal exhibit, but the kids' energy was flagging. We had a snack upstairs and chatted with everyone. One of the freebies from the museum was freeze-dried foods, like the astronaut ice cream I remember from my youth. It tasted like it was from the 1970s, so no one wanted seconds. Except for Lucy, who somehow loved the stuff.

Getting hungry for real food, we made our goodbyes and headed back to the house for lunch and nap time. In the afternoon, we'd be off to the Mall of America, but that's another post.