EXPLOR-ing, it drives me crazy

The one place that I purposely choose NOT to take my kids, the one place that leaves me feeling pretty lame in terms of science know how, the one place that leaves me feeling like I'd rather be at the dentist office......Explora. Great place for kids and smarty pants, bad place for me. Whew, I just cannot explain how much that place bores me to tears. And not because it IS boring, no, just because all the stuff there bores ME.

And to be fair, every time I have been there, I have always had more than 2 children to keep track of. And to be clear, there is no clear path there ANYWHERE...oh no, there are about as many nooks and crannies there as there are when dust bunnies throw a party. Sheesh. I end up feeling like a mouse in a maze, searching for the cheese. So if I dislike it so much, why am I talking about it?

We were there yesterday. For a birthday party. Thankfully and luckily, it was for a family we love and they were so kind to invite all the kids, Catty included. The three older kids had fun exploring on their own. I knew we could find them-I gave them my cell phone so we could track them down. The younger three enjoyed the science projects they did with the birthday party. I'll admit that with an adult leading the discussion and activities, I did find it interesting. All while enclosed in a room without crazy chaos. And no one telling me they wanted to go look at something else.

After the party was over I was tortured, ooops, I mean blessed, with some family play time. Making whirly birds out of paper cups....building weird block things that you have to actually think about in order to build.....and chasing down missing children. Those being Luke and Eric.

and the kids all cheered us on (bribed me basically) to ride this bicycle that goes out and over the ground floor while located on the second floor. The kids couldn't do it because they weren't heavy enough. Gee, how lucky for me....I was. So long as I didn't look down, it was OK.

Thank you for a great opportunity Matt, Dawn and Ashley!! My kids thank you for it-they hadn't seen the inside of Explora in years! And Happy Birthday sweetie!!