Indianapolis Children's Museum

Dear Henry, 

Halloween weekend was a busy one for you.  Our good friends the Sisk Williams family asked us to go to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  During Halloween kids wear their costumes and they have a haunted house they would be taking their son to.  Mommy didn't put you in your hot dog costume because it traps your legs all up, therefore I plopped on your Yoda hat.  This was your first visit to the ICM.  As Uncle Gary and I grew up Grandma P and Crappaw took us often, and when your cousin Tony came around we took him, and now we take our son.  Some of the things are the same such as the mummies exhibit, the carousel, the miniature houses.  There are many new additions such as the huge Chihuly chandelier, an Egypt exhibit, dinosaurs, the science room, and the cool water clock at the entrance.  We enter the museum and we walk past a display of a ship from Star Wars (help me Daddy, I didn't recognize it) and you look up and reach toward it saying, "Ahohoh!"  I had wondered if perhaps you are too young at 7.5 months to get anything out of the experience but it was clear you would find something to get into at the museum.
We made our start in the Egyptian exhibit.  The ICM had just housed the King Tut traveling exhibit.  Mommy loves Egyptology but the display cost A LOT to go to so I didn't.  I feel sad about it.  It seems unfair to pay such a high price to observe such important pieces in the world's history and in art history.  Such exhibits should be free or very low price so the world's people can afford to observe it.  Anyhoo...  We enter the exhibit via a minature airplane complete with seats that rumble.  As you sit on the plane you can look out the "windows" and watch sights that you might see from the sky overlooking Egypt.  It was a nice experience and Samantha even felt like she had a little air sickness when we walked out the other side.  You tapped on the "windows" and flapped your arms.  The Egyptian exhibit is set up like a modern day Egyptian town complete with stores and houses mocked up to look like how families live in Egypt.  Daddy and Mommy have long been lovers of house and street mock ups in museums.  This is why Daddy loves Ikea so much.  He loves getting into those fake rooms and 500 sq ft apartments to looking around and hang out.  Back to the exhibit... You enjoyed looking all around and seeing other kids here.  Ruby and Samantha sat with you in one of the Agresso cars that are commonly used to get around cities.  

One of Daddy's other favorite things is when foreign cultures mess up famous American icons.  One of the homes had an example of this in two children's book bags hanging up.  One was Harry Potter but the text said Magic Boy while the other had a graphic of Superman but said Batman.  Not important but funny.  To end this exhibit they have a computer terminal where you can send a postcard from your "travels".  Wow!  I thought it was an amazing concept from the plane to the postcard e-mail that lets you put a photo of your face on a travelers body and it asks you questions about your experience and you answer in a voice recorder.  Ours turned out really cute and Daddy sent it to his e-mail address and it still has not shown up.  Bummer....

Next it was down to the iddy bitty butt room for you and Ruby while Max and Mason went to the haunted house.  YOU LOVED THIS ROOM,  as did Ruby who fluttered around in her butterfly costume.  We put you in the first area that had a low bar and a wall with mirrors.  You made faces at me and at yourself and cruised along the bar.  Yep, you're conservatively cruising already.  

Then we put you in this baby pit.  It is complete with a little tunnel, steps, an undulating ramp, and a big round bi-level pillow.  All of it was soft and just your size.  You loved it.  You would climb and check to see if Mommy and Daddy saw you...of course we did!  You also really enjoyed going over to see the other kids.  You tried to play with them, you smiled at them and reached out to touch them gently.  It was really sweet.  

 

It was all going good until a little girl to old to be in the baby pit started crawling all over the little kids, then an even bigger girl came in and Mommy had to protect all the little sweet cheeks in the baby pit.  I had to tell her to get the heck out!  She caused a tot traffic jam in the tunnel and was steppin' on the babies' hands!  

You enjoyed crawling and looking around and found the big magnetic wall board where you messed around with the letters mostly wanted to munch on a K and M you snagged off.  Daddy spelled your name for you and Mommy took this cute photo.


It was time to move on and we decided to go to the science room where you couldn't turn your head quick enough to see you and Daddy in the mirror tunnel.  It ends in a dark room with mirrors and flashing lights as if you're in a giant kaleidoscope.  Your eyes were the size of the moon.  

We exited the mirrors and found Ruby riding the carousel.  Mommy noticed that there were two young woman we saw earlier that used wheelchairs riding and I looked around to see that the carousel is wheelchair accessible!  So we rode the carousel together with Ruby behind us and Max leading the way on a horse.  It was the highlight of our visit to ride this together.  Mason took this cool photo of us together without knowing it.  When we got off he said that they all came out blurry but luckily because he was following us with the lens we were mostly in focus. 

It was on to the next room where a giant Rube Goldberg machine sits.  If you don't know Rube Goldberg was a political cartoonist.  After WWII the United States started exploding with new inventions and gadgets to do everyday things.  Rube's cartoons often mocked the trappings of Americans looking to complicated gadgetry to do simple tasks such as a self operating napkin in the cartoon Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts.  You can learn all that later Peep, right then in the moment all you knew was, "Dang! There's a lot going on and I don't know where to look first."  Mommy put you on the floor and you crawled up to the glass and pulled up and stared and stared and stared.  You tried to follow the pool balls as they fall, bounce, ride a corkscrew, roll and clank back to their original position.  I really enjoyed the wonder in your eyes and could see that your teacher Mommy and museum going Daddy are going to have a lot of fun talking about what we see and are learning someday.  You didn't want to leave the Rube Goldberg machine but you were starting to look hungry so I fixed you up a bottle and you snuggled down in Daddy's lap.  It was pretty clear that the Rube Goldberg machine blew your mind grapes and you took a little snooze while you ate.

After you woke up we went to the last two displays for the day quickly as the museum was getting ready to close.  Near the Goldberg machine is a room where one can learn about water and a few Indiana animals.  We had time to put you next to the miniature pond.  There is an awesome little window where you can crawl under the water and see the fish and turtles swimming right there in front of you.  You looked intently and then we rushed to the under the sea area.  There is a large aquarium as you walk in and then you can put on outfits and sit against a blue wall where a camera shoots you making you look like you're under the sea.  It is a little hokey but Daddy did it with you anyway.  

At this point you were pretty whipped so we dragged our tired selves to the exit.  We said goodbye to our friends and ran through the rain to the van.  After all of that we drove to Columbus to see Grandpa Tim and Ellen and Grandma LaJean and Great Grandma Hazel. (See previous post)

Mommy really loved watching you learn and showing you new things.  It was so exciting to me.  We are going to have so much fun!
Love, Mama