There was a water room with about 5 combined tables with water, boats, gates, scales, and a bunch of water toys to be played with.
There is a "chemistry lab" where kids can do experiments along with an instructor for $2. On the day we were there the experiment was making slime. We thought "What the heck, it was free for us to get in". Each child that paid to make slime got a "Slime Ticket" that told the instructor that they had paid.
The instructor walked the group of kids through making step by step explaining physical and chemical changes. The kids got to chose what color they wanted their slime to be. Marc chose orange. We wasn't completely sure about the feeling of it. But he thought the whole changing was cool.
There was a toddler room that Samantha went to town in!!! This is a really cool zig zag car tower. As the cars go down the ramps they zig zag back and forth.
The climber/slide was I think Samantha's favorite thing in the whole room. One of the 15 times she went up the stairs, she stopped at the top of the stairs and said "cheese" so I took her picture.
This video is one of the many times up the stairs and down the slide. When she first started walking up the stairs on her feet, I was a little nervous, knowing that her splint had just come off. But I quickly discovered that she was going to do it, whether I liked it or not. (She has a mind of her own). ;) Watching her made me realize just how grown up my little girl is getting. (I think I liked it better when she had to be careful while her arm was broken).
Marc (and Samantha too, but I don't have a picture of it) thought this mirror room was really cool. In my opinion, that is way too many Marcs! ;) It is a cool picture though.
Another room was a "Create Your Own Music" room. There was a xylophone, string bass, a Dulcimer, tubes that when you bang them with an old flip flop they made different noises, and a piano that displays the sound waves that you are creating by playing. Marc thought the piano was really cool.
There was also a bubble room. Samantha was in awe by the bubbles that we were all blowing. She loved watching them float through the air.....
and then popping them! :)
On the way out, Daddy decided to put Marc on the top of the car...don't ask me why?! But I decided that we needed a picture of it. ;)
After we left the museum, we headed over to Canton to go to IKEA. Marc wanted to go there because their shopping carts' wheel go 360 degrees around. He likes it when daddy spins the cart in a circle or drives it sideways. ;) They also have a "Kids door" that is an archway that has vinyl streamers hanging down that Marc loves running through. While we were there we bought Samantha some Christmas presents. ;) After IKEA we went to the hotel that we paid for using points and not money. :)On Saturday, we got up and drove about an hour to the Birch Run Outlet Mall. We were looking for some Christmas clothes gifts for the kids. The kids don't care if the clothes are a surprise, they don't want them anyway. ;) but they are going to get them anyway. We were there for about 6 hours!! We got lots of good deals because it was Deer Widow Weekend so there were extra discounts just for that weekend. The kids were FABULOUS!! Samantha sat in her stroller, never fussed and slept about an hour. Marc was really well behaved too. We bribed him. I will tell you about that in a minute.
After we left the outlet mall we went to Bronners. For those of you that don't know what Bronners is, it is the World's largest Christmas store. There is actually a map for the store!! In the parking lot, they have millions of lights throughout their massively huge parking lot. So we had to get there after dark so we could see them. We tried to get a couple of picture of the kids by a couple of the displays, but it was hard to get a good picture. Here is the best one we got.
Once inside, the merriment began. They play Christmas music, have TONS of decorations to buy, and a lot of decorations hanging from the walls and ceiling. Samantha was sitting in the stroller, looking all around saying "wow" off and on for the hour (or more) we were in there.
The kiddos took advantage of the photo-op. (Or rather, I made them take the photo-op) ;)
After we looked around, played a little, and bought a couple of ornaments for us, a couple of ornament for gifts, and a new Nativity Scene, we decided it was time to leave the store (and before I spent any more money) ;)He headed for Marc's (both of them) good-boy-treat. ;). We headed to Frankenmuth (about 15 minutes away). It is called "Michigan's Little Bavaria. It is a very cute little town. The main attraction for Marc is.......The Cheese Haus! ;) So we bribed our little boy to be good at Birch run so he could get his cheese. :) Sorry the picture is blurry, it was dark outside and the cheese was lit really bright (bad combo for picture taking).
After we got our cheese, we headed to a different hotel (which we paid for using a free night certificate) for some good sleep after being on our feet all day.We got up Sunday, had breakfast, and went swimming before we headed home. Samantha, after a little time to warm up to the water again, had fun splashing around in the pool. :)
It was a very busy, fun-filled family weekend with lots of smiles, good deals, and giggles. :)
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