Children's Museum with Grammy

In addition to Blanden's giraffe t-shirt, Grammy and Papa treated Blanden to a visit to the Children's Museum last Saturday to celebrate Valentine's Day.

Exploring a pretend forest.

Cooking with a little girl.

Blanden loves to play in the kitchen.

Looking out from the top of a tree house.

Going down the slide.

Reading in a big chair.

Giving a giant bear a giant hug.

Checking out a real old fire engine!

Pretending to be a fireman.

Answering an important phone call.

The best part of the Children's Museum for Blanden right now is the toddler room, for children under age four. But we ventured upstairs to check that out too.

Grocery shopping.

He really liked the magnetic wall ... Perhaps an idea for the boys' room someday.

Playing in the puppet theater. (Mostly he liked throwing all of the puppets out and letting Dad toss them back in.)

Whew, what a day. So much fun!

Good Times

On Saturday we met Blanden's friend Gavin and his parents for pizza at Proto's, then headed to the Denver Children's Museum for an afternoon full of fun. We last visited the museum in November 2008, when Blanden was just five months old. We posted then about that night. As a little reminder, this was the extent of what he could enjoy: lying on a pretend lily pad while looking around at all the bugs in the pretend pond. :) Here he is back then.

And here he is now. :) There was certainly no lying around this time!

Crawling through a log tunnel.

Even at the museum, Blanden found a cozy corner in which to curl up and read -- always a favorite activity.

Heading down the slide -- a very fast one! Blanden would just crack up when he landed, then race around and climb up the steps to do it again.

Making noise on a washboard together...

And making each other (and themselves) laugh.

This was a favorite. The boys spent a long time playing in an old-fashioned log cabin complete with kitchen equipment. They had a blast pulling out all the pots and pans, setting the table, putting the pans back on the stove and in the oven and sink -- and, of course, mixing.

The little chefs hard at work. Hmm...what should we make?

According to Gavin's parents, he loves to pretend to cook at home as much as Blanden does. One of Blanden's favorite toys in his school classroom is the mini kitchen. He's a big fan of the frying pan -- perhaps so he can learn to make omelettes like his dad does for him on many mornings.

Peeking out of the old-fashioned general store window.

And back on the slide. After two solid hours of play, it was time to head home. But we'll be sure to do it again sometime soon. The boys had a blast!