Just like last year, I had the genius plan of getting breakfast with the Hoyts (at Cafe Brazil!!), then wearing the kids out at the Perot Museum before heading off on a long drive. Except I didn't take into account that today is Labor Day and all of the school aged kids had the day off. And apparently everyone was trying to wear their kids out at the Perot!
It started off just fine, we got there and stopped to play in the musical forest. And just like last year, Pawpaw was just as interested in the instruments as the kids.
And Henry beelined for the frogs as soon as he saw them - though he was markedly braver about climbing on them this year. Thanks for the added stress, Henry!
This year, my parents didn't end up joining us because Mom wasn't driving with me (yet!), but Aunt Jo ended up joining us instead since she had the day off work. The boys don't get to see her nearly as much as everyone else, so I was super excited she could hang out with us! They were obviously pretty excited too!
And I have to say that I love Pawpaw joined in the frog climbing photo. :)
Henry seems a little unsure of how to play with his boat when they are soooo many people crowded around the water table.
Thomas was having similar problems in the farmer's market area. Once he claimed a basket though, he was back in action shopping for his fruits & veggies!
And dutifully dumping them into the restock bin before headed back to complete another shopping list. He honestly didn't seem to mind the crowds as much as his momma did.
I finally managed to convince them to go outside and play in the sandbox / dinosaur dig. It wasn't nearly as crowded since it was quite warm outside.
But most of it was shaded, so the boys didn't seem to mind at all. They even let me take "posed" photos of them! And this totally American Gothic pose was all his doing. I just told him to smile (and got the usual half hearted "cheeeeeeeeeese" back).
I thought that maybe the upper floors wouldn't be as crowded since it's not quite as geared toward kids. But there were dinosaurs up there and I was sure my boys would love that! Unsurprisingly, they were more drawn to the touch screens than the giant skeletons...
And the animal that finally piqued Henry's interest wasn't even a dinosaur - it was the moose! I'm still not 100% sure why the moose was in the dinosaur exhibit, it was some sort of comparison on having to fighting for mating rights. But the boys were pretty happy to see an Alaskan "friend"!
Of course, it is still an awesome museum away from the kid's area, so they had plenty of interactive things for the boys to play with. Thomas was especially excited about this giant magnetic Triceratops puzzle.
Henry was less excited because he couldn't figure out how the pieces went on his own and my offer to help him was definitely rebuffed ("I do it!!!"), so the two of us ended up wandering around to look at the rest of the exhibit. Henry was looking this dinosaur footprint and as I was trying to get a photo of him admiring it, he tried to climb on it...
Then he tried to pull the rock hammer off the wall. Although, I was a little more proud of that because - rock hammer! Future geologist! :)
We finally left the dinosaurs and made it down to the climate / earth floor. The boys were super excited by this tornado generator. There was also an earthquake generator, but that had no interest in trying that out. I guess they get enough shaking action at home. Speaking of which - I know Texas and Alaska have a bit of a rivalry going on but they didn't even mention the largest earthquake in North America on the sign about earthquakes. They listed a lower magnitude one in China instead for their description of "big" quakes. Soooo rude!
After a long nap and even longer drive, we finally made it to Houston! The boys were ready to burn off some newly formed energy, so Jack and Mia took them out to play on the trampoline. Henry was so funny, he kept yelling at everyone that he was bouncing because he kept falling over. So we ended up taking turns so that Henry had his bounce time and everyone else had theirs. Silly Henry!
Of course, Jack and Mia wanted to show off for their favorite little Alaskans, so my two sat on the side to watch their Jujitsu demonstration. Jack was showing off his mad rolling skills!
And then they started doing bounce competitions. I didn't have my shutter speed up high enough for how fast they were moving, but I still love this one because Jack was so high up in the air and even he seemed a little surprised by how high up he was!
Good air, Jack! :)