Dress Up Play at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Since we visit the museum so often (free tickets through my sister!), I don't always add a blog post about it.  But this time, Eli was so cute dressing up as a dozen different characters that I just had to post some photos.  We actually ended up doing the entire day at the museum, and ended the day with the end of day parade (4:45, helps get your kids out the door).  This was the first visit Thomas really played, and he absolutely loved the baby zone in Playscape.

In this post, I mentioned most of my tips for visiting the museum, but I've got a few more:

• Check out the paper they give you when you enter to find the times of all the interactive programs and cart demonstrations the museum offers.  My sister was doing one on all the weapons from the Painted Soldiers, which my children loved!
• You can leave your phone and charger with the concierge to charge if needed.
• There were some nice healthy selections of baby friendly food (grapes, cheese, boiled eggs, mandarin oranges, etc.), but of course they were expensive as all the food court is pricey. 
• Many exhibits now have these neat family guides.  Take a look at them to get more ideas with how to interact with the exhibits.

Current temporary exhibit:
Pirates and Princesses:  Storybook Adventure

Family Guide

New Permanent Exhibit:
Beyond Spaceship Earth (Download the app before you go to get the kids even more excited.)

Family Guide

Other dress-up opportunities:

Aunt Erin dressed up as an archaeologist.

Eli in scuba gear.

My little dinosaur.

My dragonfly.

In a traditional Chinese costume.

 And there were a lot of other ones I missed (I had camera memory card and phone battery issues!).  Another great day at the museum!

Tips for Visiting The Children's Museum of Indianapolis with Young Children

As I've said before, we didn't go a lot of places in my childhood.  Having cattle at home to get back to just didn't allow for a lot of travel.  But one place we did go almost yearly was the wonderful Children's Museum of Indianapolis.  Coincidentally, we always visited it when we were in Indy for Hoosier Beef Congress in December.

This setting stared in several short story assignments I wrote in my school days, and will always be on my list of top places to visit in Indy.  And now, as if it could get any better, my sister recently started working at the museum, and is able to give us insider tips!!!  I can't say enough about how great this museum is, for kids of all ages, and frankly it would take a long, long post to explain all of the different exhibits at the museum, so I'll just share some highlights and photos from our most recent visits with the pre-school set.  Back in 2011 we took the first three grandkids on my side, who were 0, 1, and 5 years old.  We've doubled the number of grandkids in the last three years, and took all six of them on the most recent trip, ages:  0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. 

Of course they need an Indy Car! 

Favorite exhibits for the toddler/pre-schooler set:
Fireworks of Glass:  The colorful sculpture in the center of the museum, made by Dale Chihuly is neat to look at from the ramps, but the pre-schoolers in our group have always loved to look at it from below.  A rotating bench on the lower level makes for a great viewing spot.  And building their own sculpture with plastic pieces is always a hit.

Dinosphere:  The scene is set perfectly for entering the late Cretaceous time period, as changing weather (lights and sounds) add to the awesomeness of this exhibit.  A "storm" happens periodically, and help little ones imagine what it was like to walk with the dinosaurs.  Kids love the archeology pit here, as well as dressing up and hopping in a dinosaur nest.  

Playscape:  The newly remodeled play area for the youngest visitors is worth a membership on it's own if you live nearby.  There is sand play, water play, building, crawling, music, and even an art studio.  The under five crowd (and their "helper" older siblings) can experience sights, sounds, touches, and smells in this wonderful playscape.  Scienceworks is a similar exhibit, but for a bit older kids to explore.

The Carousel:  On the highest level, the full size carousel is always a favorite (though adds a $1 a ride to your costs, except under two who are still free).  Be sure to check if you want a stationary ride or an animal that goes up and down. The exhibit around the carousel includes a maze of mirrors, and some good dramatic free play space.

Take Me to China:  Finally, the exhibit featuring the destination China was also surprisingly fun for our group.  "Flying" on an airplane, "riding" on a commuter train, practicing eating Chinese cuisine, shopping in a grocery store, and dressing up in traditional costumes were all enjoyed by our kiddos.

Additional Tips:

• Keep an eye out for temporary exhibits.  Even if you've been there dozens of times before like us, you never know when something new will be there.  We happened to be there during the short time this Wall to China Slide was up, and it was about the best slide ever.  A nice extra touch.   

• Like many museums, they are closed on some Mondays.  Tues-Sun, hours are 10-5pm.
• For an extra fee, you can view The Emperor's Painted Army in the China's Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit.  Though it was a little old for our crowd, it's very interesting for adults and all my second-grader niece could talk about when she visited on a school field trip.  She loved it, and they do a neat dramatization of the warrior and an archeologist in the atrium daily.  Check for the time, and hurry because the exhibit will end in November!

• There is a Mother's Room in the new Playscape exhibit.  Private with everything needed for caring for a newborn (whether you are breastfeeding or want a quiet place to feed a bottle and change diapers).

• If you have a Transformer lover, they will obviously notice the huge Bumblebee figure as you walk in, but be sure to catch the dramatization of Bumblebee in the atrium too.  Your action lover will delight in watching Bumblebee come to life.  (The main thing my four year old talks about when he remembers his trip.)  Check the time for this when you arrive.

• Tickets to the Lilly Theater and the Planetarium (One World, One Sky:  Big Bird's Big Adventure is good for the youngest visitors) are free, pick up at the lower level ticket booth.  It looks like they have an awesome Christmas Seuss-themed play coming up in the Lilly.

• There is a huge, real life train in the basement that kids can walk through.  Beware though, there are new train tables nearby.  You may want to distract them from these if you have a kid like mine who would play all day and may have a melt down if you'd rather not stay at that exhibit all day.
• You can rent a stroller, pick up a complementary diaper, store stuff in a rented locker, eat at the food court, or even use an ATM in the museum.  Basically, they have everything you need including free wifi spots.  Since it is a bit pricey ($14.50-19.50, under two are free) you really should plan to get the most out of your money by spending the whole day there.  And if you do make it the whole day, plan to end at the top level around 4:55 for the daily "parade".  (They do offer free nights, but I have heard they are packed!)
• Oh, and our favorite part!  Be sure to check out the clock in the atrium at 12:59.  You'll see why.

I'll have to update this in a few years with many of the other exhibits that are great for school age kids.  Because, if you can't tell, this is THE best children's museum in the country.

The Last County 4-H Fair

So, I can't decide just want I want to post in regards to my brother's last year in 4-H and the fair in general.  I think, you really have to be a part of county 4-H to really get it.  So trying to explain it in writing just isn't going to happen.  But as a big part of the patchwork that makes up my family, I feel I have to include it somewhere in this blog.  It seems my sister's and I always dated/married guys who weren't in 4-H at all, or very minimally, and they never could quite understand how we could spend a whole week at the fairgrounds.  But, it's just what we did.  We didn't go on vacations often when I was growing up because we didn't want to leave all the animals for very long.  So this was the one week where my parents took off work and we all spent a significant amount of time together.  And we always had plenty to do.  Eating delicious fair food, preparing all our animals for show, seeing lots of friends and extended family, and keeping an eye on all our exhibits.

Between the five kids, my siblings and I took a myriad of projects that we would prepare early in the summer (or at least by judging day).  Over the years, these included:  alfalfa, aquatic science, arts & crafts, cake decorating, child development, consumer clothing, electric, entomology, fashion revue, floriculture, foods, forestry, genealogy, geology, health, home environment, junior leaders, personality, photography, reading, sewing, soil & water conservation, weather, and wildlife (I think I got them all).  From this list it shouldn't be that surprising that three of us walked away with the tenure award (based on your record for projects completed).

Over the years we also exhibited seven different "species" of animals: always beef, most of the years pigs and rabbits, and some years goat, sheep, and starter calves/veal.  We even had a year or two with chickens.  Most of the time we bought our show animals, but over the years we bred and raised beautiful baby pigs, rabbits, calves, and even had a goat kid. 

In true fair form, I had planned to share some recipes, but my diet's been keeping me away from baking for awhile so I do not have photos to go with them yet.  Eventually, I'd like to share the champion recipes I remember:  my chocolate chip biscuits, the salsa my Aunt Denise helped me prepare, Megan's champion apple pie, Erin's champion baklava (Brian even helped her look to cook this one), and one of Matthew's many champions from food preservation.  Hopefully I'll get these up eventually!

But, as my family wraps up our 23 years in a rural, Indiana 4-H program, we're about to begin Theodore in a very different, suburban, Virginia 4-H program.  He is old enough for Cloverbuds (mini-4-H for you Hoosiers) this year!!  But, considering his father managed to take two projects I never enrolled in (vet science and dog), I have no idea what areas Theodore is going to pick to study for 4-H.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to really release my grip on his life when he signs up, so he can make 4-H meaningful for himself.  But, I'm sure I'll be adding a post or two about this next summer.

Show Arena:  2003, the last year I showed

Thowback Thursday (Eli Edition): Giraffes at Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

And, here's Eli's edition. :)

3 months before he was born

9 months old

23 months old

Thowback Thursday (Theo Edition): Eggs at Fort Wayne Children's Zoo

We got in another visit to the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo last time we were in Indiana, and I thought it was time for this photo strip, showing how quickly my little man has grown! We love this zoo!

Theo age 1

Theo age 2

Theo age 3, Eli age 7 months

Theo age 4, Eli almost 2.
 

Grandma's Brownstone Front Cake

After organizing all the cookbooks in our new place, I decided I should really go through and try to use some recipes from each of the books.  I decided to start with the personal cookbooks that I have.  Back home in Indiana, it is a quite common fundraiser to come up with a cookbook to sell.  My mother had several from schools, churches and even festivals.  And some of them made their way into my bag when I moved out.

My childhood church, Banquo Christian Church, compiled a book for its 100th anniversary celebration back in 2000.  It has so many great comfort food recipes and lots of dessert ideas.  My grandmother has a few in there, and one caught my eye that I'd never seen before.  Apparently, this was a cake that her mother (my great grandmother, Lela) used to make for birthdays, often with colored buttercream icing.

Bingo!  I found a way to combine two of my hobbies- baking with genealogy.  I have dabbled in genealogy for over a decade now, and I love finding any kind of artifacts that are associated with my ancestors.  I have mainly focused on census records, obituaries, biographies, photographs and headstone images.  I have pretty much collected most of what is available, so my new goal is to try to find recipes that have been made by my ancestors.  I know that I have a pretty good start already in the materials I have in my home, and my other grandmother showed me stacks and stacks of recipes she has from her mother.  I'm planning to start adding some of these family recipes (as well as some genealogy tips) to this ever eclectic blog.

But back to this cake.  When I did a little research, I found that this was possibly named (its origins aren't really clear) based upon the brownstone houses in New York City.  With that information, and the fact that we just moved into our own townhouse, I knew I should go ahead and put this on my "to-bake" list.

See how it looks like a townhouse?  For a simple chocolate layer cake (all the ingredients should already be in your cupboard), it was awesome.  And I love that it has some history behind it.

Here is the recipe as in the cookbook:

Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup butter.  Add 2 eggs and mix.  Stir 1/2 cup cocoa and 1/2 cup hot water together.  Add to mixture.  Add 2 cups flour alternately with 1/2 cup milk.  Dissolve 1 teaspoon baking soda in small amount of hot water and add to mixture.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and beat well.  Bake in 2 greased and floured pans at 350 for 30 minutes.

Since the recipe doesn't describe the pans, I decided to use two loaf pans to give it the tall, thin townhouse look.  Brian made a quick butter and powdered sugar icing recipe and finished it up for me.  You could decide to make it into more layers, use a glaze, or even add some caramel into the icing or filling.  That part is up to you.

My great-grandmother Lela was born in 1906.  She was the oldest of the six girls in her family.  She did not marry until she was 35, and then married a widower with 5 children.  She had one daughter, my grandmother.  Her husband died when she was 42  Below is one of my favorite photos, with this family.  My grandma is the youngest girl in the pink hat.  It was for these children's birthdays that this brownstone front cake was made.

Indiana Area Zoos

After last week's post, I knew I wanted to write a little something about the other zoos we visited this summer (and post photos).

I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I am just drawn to zoos like a magnet.  Especially now with the kids.  While in Indiana this spring, awaiting our new housing situation, we visited:  the Fort Wayne Zoo (twice), the Indianapolis Zoo, and the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Quick Facts:

Fort Wayne Zoo
Hours:  Daily, 9am-5pm
Admission Cost:  Adult:  $13.50, Child (2-14) $8.50, 1 and under free
Parking:  Free and abundant
Rides:  Sky Safari, Train Ride, River Ride, Carousel Ride:  all $2.00; Pony Rides:  $5
Extra Info:  Bring Quarters for duck food, $1 to feed the giraffe, $1 to feed the goats; Get a ride pass to save a little bit on the rides

Best zoo around.  Seriously.  Recent changes to the safari take away a little of the magic from childhood, but it is still a beautiful zoo.  Feeding the giraffes is a new thing to excite little ones. 

Zoo on the first day of Spring!

 Zoo toward the end of spring!

Indianapolis Zoo
Hours:  Mon-Thurs, 9-5pm; Fri-Sun, 9-7pm
Admission Cost:  Adult:  $16.95, Child:  $11.95(free if your awesome in-laws have a membership you can get in with)
Parking:  $6.00
Rides: feed a giraffe, carousel, train, and roller coaster all cost $2.50.  $5.00 for the 4D theater (or get a ride pass to save a little)
Extra Info:  Get your tickets online and save a few dollars a person.

Dolphin show is unique, not found in many zoos.  Touch tank in Oceans exhibit lets kids get up close and personal.

Lincoln Park Zoo
Hours:  Varies throughout the year, about 7am-6pm
Admission Cost:  FREE
Parking:  located at Fullerton Parkway and Cannon Drive; anything over 30 minutes is $20 in the off-season, and $20-35 in the summer months
Rides:  Carousel tickets are $2.75, train tickets are $2.50
Extra Info:   Look into a membership to save on parking if you live close but not close enough

You can also stop at the free conservatory on your way in.  For being right in the middle of the city, this seemed to be a huge park.

 Eli's first time on a carousel!