Bones, and trees, and science, oh my!

I had a week off in my job transition, most of which I spent sitting in Panera doing online Adobe tutorials in an attempt to quickly re-learn the design software for my new job. Not fun. 

And then there were 12 loads of laundry and a list of house projects to finish. Not fun. 

Add to that the fact that our house looked like a tornado had struck during the past 2 weeks with fading flowers and catering trays and rogue sleeping bags, diapers and socks from all the family that had recently passed through. Add to that 6 boxes of stuff from Mead, and there was a lot to do to re-set. Also not fun. 

By Thursday, I declared a FAMILY FUN DAY...it was killing me to be off work for a whole week and not be with my family. We pulled Ella out of school (gasp!) to spend a day at the Cincinnati Childrens Museum. My argument was that we could enjoy some priceless family time, teaching Ella more science that day than she's probably learned in all of first grade. 

So off we went. 

 

We started with an early lunch at Subway, complete with Carson's favorite gesture these days...a full-table, chocolate-milk  "cheers."

   

Union Terminal in Cincinnati is nothing short of breathtaking. We marveled at the art deco architecture and the way the light and sound bounce around in that space.  

We took a zillion photos that day, but the next two really sum up who Carson and Ella are turning out to be: Carson is physical, joyous, and tackles his surroundings fearlessly. He sees a structure or an organized pile and he barrels straight into it or uses his limbs to disassemble the order that once was there. Sometimes he puts it back and sometimes he just laughs and runs to find something else to destroy. 

Yes, he does that to our house, our furniture, and my brain just as well. Then he shows you the rainbow or the reason and it all makes sense. There is a method behind most of his madness.

Ella, on the other hand, is all about organization...kindness...and being in charge. We entered the "grocery store" and Carson knocked the plastic product from 3 shelves with one giant sweep of his arm. I heard it before I saw it; the sounds of a bouncing basket of plastic baguettes filled the room, followed by his maniacal laughter.

Ella glanced up from her self-appointed "job" at the cash register, where she had begun patiently ringing up the groceries of every 3-year-old there.  

We took them to the indoor tree house and they climbed every limb, every ladder, every board until they reached the top. A rainy Thursday with my family has never been better.