Thank You Grandpa!

We've been twice now.  And we love it.  We're going back again soon.  Grandpa gave us a membership to the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal for Christmas.  There are three museums in one that are all within an old train station.  Cincinnati is a huge train hub, so this station is gigantic.  We first went on Nov. 23rd.  When we went the employees told us that the Cincinnati History museum was the most boring for kids - and we all had a blast.  They had an amazing set of miniatures in the form of Cincinnati around the early 1900's.  The trains and trolleys were all set up to run.  It was impressive to see how the trolleys used to get up the steep hills and to see how many train tracks went through the lower part of town.  We live in the northeastern corner, so I don't just drive around the southwest corner to see the train tracks and how they intertwine.  The kids loved watching the trains.  They loved seeing the history, how the Ohio River fit into that, and several people dressed in period.  Here are the best pictures from that visit.  And yes, Michael had a go-tee during the break.  I suppose I could get used to it if he insisted on wearing facial hair, but his job won't allow it.  So I'm saved from having to decide.

 We ate lunch as soon as we got there and one by one the kids escaped to sit in the photo booth nearby. 

 Mikey and I just after lunch.

 Miniatures

 Me and my rockin' photography skills.  The one person looking in the direction of the camera has his eyes closed.  Nice.  But they loved watching the miniature trains.

 This turned out as a pretty good family shot.  We're on a slightly smaller replica of the Queen of the West boast that used to sail along the Ohio River.  It sits in about 2 ft. of water inside the museum surrounded by murals that give you the feeling you're on the riverfront. 

 Inside the boat was an actual working engine that we could see in it's progress.

 Looking out at the "river".  They loved this.

 Inside the boat was it's miniature.  This is roughly what it looked like on the outside.

Outside the boat.

 We thought Andrew would LOVE to ride this train as he is so into trains.  But he bawled and screamed when we pulled him away from the Thomas the Train display to ride it.  Would not be consoled until we took him back to play.  So Bekah and Patrick shared the head compartment together.

 At the end of the museum they had a Christmas Train section that also featured Santa.  Seeing the trains move in the "snow" was fun.

 Seeing Santa.  This was probably the most believable Santa they saw all season.

 Andrew with the kiddie train section.  Like I said - would not be parted from it.

Then on Jan. 2nd we went again.  This time to the Cincinnati Children's Museum.  We touched about a third and were there for several hours.  They were content to play and play and play.  It was so great to watch them discover and learn.  We've been to children's museums before, but this was different.  I think their age was the big difference.  Bekah doesn't explore terribly well on her own.  Now that Patrick is older, they explore a lot together.  And I think I've loosened up as a mom.  I'm more apt to go play with them.  For all my imagination and energy, I've never been very good at that.

 Ball heaven!  There were times when he would lay down on his stomach and just "swim" in them.

 She had a great time discovering.

 Obvious joy on Patrick's face.  The wheel he was turning eventually shot the balls out to a target.  Too bad Daddy was zoning.  :)

 Put a ball in and watch it be sucked up by the vacuum inside!

 How fast can you turn the wheel?

 Again - discovery.  The tube she's holding let out a steady strong stream of air.  You put the ball into the stream and then directed it into the metal "catch" cages.

 My water baby.

 She really got into this.

 For some reason he was hard to catch on camera while we were at the water station.  He must have been so intent that he wouldn't look up very often.  The tubing here was detachable and therefore allowed you to create your own way for the water to travel.