A happy day

Yesterday was such a fun day. We got up, ate cookies and drank coffee (alas,my yummy beans from the Italian Coffee Company are almost gone :(). Then got dressed and ready. This involved some negotiation by Ariana, who has worn sparkly T-shirts with butterflies, two or three necklaces, a pink or purple skirt and shiny violet shoes every day for nearly two weeks. The shiny violet shoes are a little bit too big and not suitable for climbing. However, for some reason, they are preferable to the light-up hot pink flowered tennis shoes. After a moments reflection, she came up with the suggestion that she wear the shiny shoes in the car, but put on the tennies before we went anywhere that would involve climbing. Everyone was happy :)

We grabbed a more substantial breakfast on the way to pick up Carlos' mom. (I'm part Hobbit: first breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses...). The drive to the Science Museum is a couple of hours, which is perfect--long enough to feel like you've taken a trip, but not so long that everyone is sick of the car. By happy coincidence, my parents were finishing up their own trip in this area, so it worked out for us to meet for lunch.

We went to Bricktown and enjoyed a nice little stroll near the canal, then ate yummy BBQ. Once we were thoroughly stuffed, we headed to the museum to walk a little of it off. Ariana and Joel immediately raced to the largest spiral slide in the US and could have happily spent hours climbing the steps and sliding down. But there were too many other fun things to stay there for long.

The elaborate train exhibits particularly fascinated Joel. Both kids were delighted with the air play station. It ha kid scissors, plenty of paper plates and cups for cutting and a wind tunnel. They spent a long time cutting elaborate variations and then watching them fly up the tunnel at different speeds. The climbing walls were also lots of fun. Then it was on to the bubble-stations, full of soapy water and lots of bubble-wands. Ariana's favorite part of the day was going inside the fire station and sliding down the pole *all by herself*. Everyone was nice and sleepy on the ride home, only waking up for an ice-cream stop. All in all, it was a very happy day.