This recently came across a blog post from another Iowan that showed pictures from the Children’s Museum in Coralville. I’ve been to the mall several times and always thought it would be fun to take the kids, but having never been inside (and always have a list of other things to look at at the mall) we’ve always skipped it. This time, we made the trip especially for the boys. It’s been a long summer for them and we haven’t really done much because Ben is so little so I thought it might be fun to have a day just for them.
We headed out bright and early, stopped for lunch at McDonalds in Coralville and then headed over to the mall. Before tackling the Children’s Museum we decided to take a quick lap around the mall. I hadn’t told the boys yet but I really wanted them to do a Build-A-Bear and I was pretty sure there was still one in the mall. They were getting antsy by the time we finally got to that end of the mall, but were so excited when I told them they could make their own teddy bear. Zander especially has been playing with his animals and babies a lot lately and, while expensive, I figured this would be a fun one to add to the collection. They quickly got down to the business of picking out their bears. Nick gravitated to a pretty girly white one with bright colored hearts. Instead of completely crushing his dreams we diverted to the clothes section to see what they wanted their BAB to wear before making their animal selection. Nick chose a hockey player. Zander chose a soccer player and together they agreed on a baseball uniform for Ben’s bear. Back to the bears we gently told Nick that the hockey uniform wouldn’t fit on the bear he chose (a little white lie, but I’m willing to take the blame for it). He happily moved on and found a super cute, floppy-eared dog instead. Zander chose his bear and Mike and I chose Ben’s. Zander and Ben’s ended up getting flopped around in the making process but Zander didn’t care. He was just so happy to be doing this.
They each got to help make their bear and together helped build Ben’s.
They picked out the heart to go in their bears and did a silly little poem to make them extra special.
They both put a heart in Ben’s bear. His is full of lots of brotherly love!
Then they fluffed them up.
And got them dressed.
The registering them part got a little long for the boys. They really just wanted to play with their bears. But in the end we got through it. Nick is now the proud owner of Blackhawk (his own decision). Zander has Crazy Legs (Mike’s idea). And Ben has Cubby (not sure if that was Nick or Mike). They bears were boxed up and then dragged all the way back through the mall. The boys were so excited about their new animals. They both kept telling us how great of a day it was, how much they loved us and thanking us profusely for letting them make a bear. The smiles and their excitement was well worth the $100 we shelled out for the stuffed animals! I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Then it was off to the Children’s Museum. The boys were already giddy from BAB and when they saw what was waiting for them inside the Children’s Museum they could hardly contain themselves. Their first stop was the ambulance. They “drove” that around for a good half an hour. Nick sometimes left his post in the front to help a patient in the back. I almost had to drag them out so we could see what else there was to do.
About this time, Zander hit a brick wall. It was after 1 and he had had a full morning. So, Mike took him in the stroller, I wore Ben, and Nick played in the grocery store for another half hour. Seriously, this thing was so cool. There were kid sized shelves with empty, but real, food products to purchase. Real metal carts and a cashier lane to check out. Nick had a great time while Zander tried to rest.
Then it was over to the pizzeria. Isn’t it great. There was everything from a hostess stand to a brick oven. Zander never fell asleep and eventually got his second wind enough to start playing again.
The next room was full of science experiments. The boys had fun, but they are definitely more into the imaginative play at this age.
Then came the aviation room. There was a two story slide. Almost full-size small plane (or maybe it was full-size), flight simulators and even a hot air balloon. Oh, and A-Mazing light. But, they boys didn’t really notice that as much as I did.
This was the only picture I got of Ben all day! He was such a good little baby either chilling in the stroller or hanging out on my chest in the wrap!
The Lego room was tucked away upstairs and secretly I was glad. I figured as soon as my boys saw this they would never want to leave. I was mistaken. I snapped this quick picture before leaving them to play while I went to feed Ben. By the time I came back, they were ready to move on.
By then everyone was getting a little warm and pretty hungry, so we made our way out into the mall for a quick snack break. But, as soon as we were done the boys were ready to go back. I parted ways with them for just a short while so I could look for some new work clothes in stores we don’t have here (Gap). When I got back I found the boys in the music room we had completely passed over on our first trip through the lower level.
It was then that Mike warned me Nick had been injured while I was away. It was bad enough they had to seek help from the staff because he was bleeding and needed a band-aid. Mike’s not sure what happened but Nick ran out of his shoes and somehow managed to tear off a pretty big chunk of skin. (I saw later just how bad it was. Nearly got sick when I saw it.) After the music room Zander headed back over to the grocery store while Nick pouted because his foot hurt and we wouldn’t go into the theater with him.
I needed to go feed Ben and Mike couldn’t be in two places at once. So, I hustled upstairs to quick feed Ben, but before I got to the top of the stairs I heard crying coming from where I just left the boys. I rushed back downstairs and Zander was bleeding from his lower lip. So, it was back to the first aid for a wipe and ice pack. By this time we decided everyone was tired and it was time to go. We made a quick run back to a store to look for some jeans for Nick and Zander passed out in the stroller. Look at that fat lip!
And because Nick had been so good through the whole long day (they didn’t really fight and other than that last little fit about the theater never even really whined) we let him ride the carousel.
After that we headed back to Cedar Rapids, Mike checked into his hotel (he left the next morning for three days), we grabbed a quick bit to eat and I drove my three very tired little boys home. We didn’t get home until about 9 p.m. By then Nick was completely wasted but Zander was still refreshed from his little nap. I don’t think either one got to sleep until close to 10 p.m. It was a LONG day, but well worth it!
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