Year 5, January 30th, 2020: Abishai and Mommy Date to the TCM

I have been bored in the last few weeks, mainly because Abishai and I hang out in the morning while I wait for the other two kids to do their independent schoolwork. On Wednesday I thought to myself, "I wish I could just go somewhere spontaneously but then the kids have to find time to do their school later in the day or on Saturday. Wait a minute, I don't always HAVE to take them with me! Like the Children's Museum!" See, I used to just randomly go to the park or the Children's Museum or fun little trips to the mall or something when homeschool took less effort. And most of the time it wasn't a special occassion. So, if it's not a special occasion, say Christmas, then why can't I just take Abishai to the Children's Museum or to do errands or something else? Just because the others prefer to be home or are house bound because of their studies, doesn't mean Abishai and I have to be. And I want to provide as many of the same memories for him, as I did for the others (and definitely realizing it won't be as perfect or as much or the same). So off we went! I hadn't gotten the Access Pass yet because we simply didn't make time for it because Jared has to come with us to get it. We could have done that last July when we were reapproved for Medicaid for the kids. So I had to really push myself to get up and get gone when Jared got out of class so he could meet us there and then go to work. That means we were there before the museum officially opened for the day. It was difficult but we did it!

We got our Access Pass, paid our $4, and off we went! Just Abishai and Mommy! What a glorious day! I didn't have to hear any whining about getting home to do homework or screen time. I didn't hear any whining about being bored or wanting a sugar treat. I didn't have to hear any bickering. I left all of that behind in their respective rooms, which is exactly what Keturah and Justin did all day long while we were gone. They stayed in their separate spaces, ate lunch separately, did their screen times separately, and all was well when we did finally get home 7 hrs later. Don't worry, Jared did check on them a couple of times.

Instead, we were able to move on when Abishai wanted to move on. He had my full attention and could ask lots of questions. We could slow down and really look at certain things and talk about them. Not every plaque was read or every button was pushed, but we ended going through every single exhibit, even if it was just briefly, even the Power of Children, which is above his understanding for the most part. Even in there when he pointed out all of Ryan White's cool toys and how he wanted them, I was able to just briefly told him that they had belonged to a boy who died from aids, a disease that we can treat today. I didn't tell him about the bullying and why. I just wanted to use the word "aids" and that young people do die from disease sometimes, hopefully stirring up some compassion in his little heart, which he does have and I knew he would respond well to, and he did. He did say, "Aw, that's sad." I don't know that particular story well, so I can't remember how long he lived and what not, but that's ok.

The three rotating exhibit spaces were all under construction and the stairs in the atrium were just stairs. It was almost eerily quiet all day, too. We saw two small school groups of about a dozen students each. One I think was Kindergarten and one was maybe 1st or 2nd grade. There were just a handful of other families and they had preschoolers on down. The employees looked almost bored! That's how I like to do the museum! So much quieter, time to focus, no pushing or shoving, easy to find the lost child who turned the wrong corner (which still happens), time to listen to hungry tummies and then go back to the same exhibit. Ah, it was wonderful!

It cracks me up because to us, the museum, like Indian Creek, is home. We know all the public nooks and crannies well.  We know what to expect on all levels and what are each kids' favorites. We know what we did last time and what to do a little more of this time. But if you read the history and description of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, it's overwhelming to the outsider. It is the LARGEST children's museum in the WORLD by square footage! I'm sure they included the outdoors parts of the Sports Experience, which used to be a parking lot, so that makes sense. I hope they didn't include the parking garages or off site storage. But, I do believe it is the best and biggest because when I compare it to other museums I've been to, even that weird one in St. Louis with the funky stuff on the outside, it still has more space under roof. My kids and I are spoiled that we've spent so much time there over the last 16 yrs. Yes, I think I started going between when Benaiah was 2 and Justin was born. Although it's not a science or history museum, it's bigger than some science and history museums. And interactive. Like the bug museum in New Orleans was decent size, but only one floor with a few interactive portions. Still well done for that sort of thing because it was colorful and intriguing and informative and eye catching for kids and adults, but not as much so as our beloved  Children's Museum with all of its' programming, including a several days a week preschool program and some homeschool classes! Anyway, we are blessed.

So, let's see if I can recall where we all went. The synopsis:
Ran through Space
Ducked under trains, played with train tables, ran through tool car once.
Went down ramp, discovered that they kept part of the dinosaur nest and moved a dinosaur playtable.
Played at the table, walked down to see the rest of the new Paleo lab, dug in the dig site, played on computers, smelled stuff, walked up ramp to get a snack.

Walked back down into DinoSphere to play on the playtables that had been moved, played with a little girl his age. Finished looking at new Paleo Lab with LOADS of great NEW specimens!

Went up to the overlooks, molded silly putty on dinosaur head. Talked about the model for the outside of the building with dinosaurs breaking out of the museum.

Walked into 2nd floor of atrium to the permanent Pop Culture exhibit where we saw life size Han Solo in carbonite, Spiderman on a metal balcony with webbing, and a picture of Lego Batman on the wall.

We saw another Spiderman inside the exhibit, looked at all the old toys, and discovered Abishai knew the name of Jake the Pirate's ship, although we've never watched an episode of it together. Played a bit there and tried to predict the next part after a movie clip played.

I think we rounded the corner and visited the Greece exhibit on the 2nd floor. I kept calling it Egypt because that was what it was before. He served me lunch, we played Greecian instruments, rescued turtles and kept their eggs warm, went fishing, went to the supermarket to buy vegetables and scan them in, made olive oil for Daddy, and sat on the airplane. Then I think we went back to finish lunch.

After lunch, we stayed on the 1st floor and went down the fancy elevator to the Egyptian tomb, divers, and terracotta soldiers. He briefly went on the shipwreck, looked at the mummy and asked what it was, and played a bit with the rocks and boards in the Egyptian exhibit.

Next was his favorite, playing with the plastic "glass" under the glass works. Every time we stopped for a bit, I would try to read my autobiographical novel. He wasn't happy when the kids started taking his "glass" but then they figured it out and he gently led them per his usual.

Then upstairs we went to the video games and carosel. He was super happy about seeing all the old cars, trucks, subs, and airplanes! Then he played with two Lego games, Avengers and Star Wars, Episode 1 or 2 I think. We played tic-tac-toe, he served me ice cream, and pretended there were monsters and zombies in the tree house.

Then we rode the infamous carousel! Even with the Access Pass, we still had to pay for $1 each to ride the carousel. If the other kids were with us, that would have been $4, so it's nice to not have to pay for everyone all the time. And I don't mind paying for the maintanence on that particular carousel with it's original horses and animals, original organ, and all around gorgeousness! They keep it in pristine condition despite it being around 100 years old, used every single day all day long, on the 4th floor of the Children's Museum! It's the only kind of ride that I will JUMP at the chance to ride! What a thing of history and beauty and all my babies have ridden it so it's part of our history as well!

We did go through the mirror maze in that room as well, and Abishai danced like crazy surrounded by mirrors! We found the original Little People castle and he immediately wanted to get ours out at home.

We walked to the back corner of that floor and played with one of our kids' absolute favorite pieces of equipment and the noisiest: the mechanical ball mover contraption (made in 1996, which is on one of the steel frame pieces) that uses billiard balls. There was a young couple there with no children, obviously on a date, and the man, showed Abishai how it worked. He's going to make a great dad someday. And then I got to look at some Harry Potter original artifacts from the movies that was ina corner display case. And really admire the $600 Harry Potter castle with the teeny tiny micro figures, a mail owl, Marauder's Map, quiditch broom, wand, robe, and letters.

Then we headed over to the Science Works. Abishai played in the water of course, but again, I had time to really concentrate and make sure his sleeves were pulled way up. I forgot an extra shirt, but had remembered extra underwear this time (remember last week when he dripped in his underwear at gym day?) I was able to show him that at the top of the rivers was Michigan and the bottom was New Orleans delta, including the levees, which he asked about! We had driven through one of those levee huge "doors" when we went to the orange grove in New Orleans (I'm using New Orleans as a broad term here, the town has a name, but I forget what it was). Then Abishai did his normal tractor driving, tractor toy mash up and then served me lots of great veggies in the (I think it's called the Riley) house. We saw the big fish, too.

Then we had a couple of false alarm bathroom trips. Eek. At some point in the day, I got to peek at the mini rooms again, and noticed a New England room and a replica of the building of the original Children's Museum. The Museum is 95 years old! I knew it was old, but I wasn't sure how old! Wow! But the full on big doll house is gone. Or moved. It had a carriage house with it if I recall. It has a significant name associated with it, too. Riley or Lilly or one of those famous Indianapolis names.

Our last stop was Playscape.  We briefly played in the sand and water. He climbed up the lily pad towers and said he pouted at the top in the boat because he was scared and wanted me up there. I tried to climb up there but some of the spaces are small to crawl through and I almost got stuck! We also had an unusual surprise where we got to actually see the inside of what scaffolding and plastic cover looks like because they were working on the outside of the museum. There were no workers, but I found it interesting to see where they might climb up and how scary it might be 3 stories up from the ground. Eek! Abishai played in the wind tunnel, with foam ramps and balls. And then, we were done. Almost. We were getting a picture in the IndyCar and a dad was wondering where the Hot Wheels exhibit was. I told him it only comes out in full in May, and then a second later, I remembered there's a couple of permanent elements of it in the indoor sports area. Of course Abishia overheard it and needed to go there.

Because the outdoor sports area is closed until March, there was no extra cost for the inside part. We got to see some Colts memoribilia in the "temporary" exhibit, including a place where Abishai could run! I got to compare the cheerleader outfit from their first year in Indianapolis, 1984 to today's outfit. I also got to see the REAL winning football from the Superbowl game that the Colts won against the Patriots! And the (I assume washed) uniform of the player that made the winning touchdown! I can appreciate that. Then we went to the Hot Wheels and pit crew area per usual. We tried at tossing game and Abishai had me sit in the news anchor desk and he was behind the camera.

And then we were officially done. We had been there before it opened and had a front row spot right near the ramp for the walkway from the garage to the museum. We were there from 9:40 to 4:10.

Oh, two more things. Midday, he wanted to go into the store to play and I said I would set a timer knowing he never wants to leave there when we do that last. We went in, we looked around, we decided, ok, you can get a toy, he quickly agreed with what I had in mind, we walked a played a couple of minutes more. Then he threw some pretend snowballs at me, immediately cleaned them up, and then put a package of them that had fallen, back on it's hook. My timer went off as we checking out. Wahoo! In and out and no fuss! Oh and he tried on a Greco-Roman helmet and sword and I tried on an olive leaf headband.

Abishai was agreeable the whole day! No fussing. He got to hold his toy on the way home and didn't open it. He stayed awake the whole ride, too. We drove around Monument Circle, per usual, looking for Spiderman and Batman. He thinks they live in our city, but Batman only comes out at night, that's why we didn't see him. And Spiderman was at the museum of course. He thinks all the super heroes live here. Downtown seemed dreary with no Christmas lights, Christmas soldiers, dreary skies, and no running water in the fountain. But we made our way around and found the right streets and lanes! I'm beginning to really learn that area well! Yeah! We passed by the jail and he said, "But there's always a police station near a jail." I told them there was, but it was behind us and/or underground or whatever, not easily seen connected the city-county building where Jared worked. We passed Banker's Life and our favorite garage and further memorized where each street was. And I didn't even make a wrong turn and stayed on Washington St. and came home our back street route, avoiding rush hour traffic.

So, all in all, it was a glorious day, like I said! I loved having that one on one time and now that I'm more aware of how to talk to younger kids (thanks YouTube and those newer moms who actually relate to their kids better than I ever did at that stage, I'm inspired by you! Yes, a bit sad that I wasn't that good at it for the older kids, but trying to implement it for this wee one), it makes these trips more fun. As I told a mom recently, I'm trying to recreate or repeat some of the same memories for Abishai that the older kids have from that age. I want it to be similar enough, but know it won't be exactly the same. The only downside was that it made for a very clingy and tired Abishai the next day (as I write this on the day after because I, too, was too tired to write it all yesterday and even today, I'm barely squeezing it in, so it might not make any sense.) Abishai walked for most of the time while were in exhibits and use the wagon when we were switching exhibits. My step counter wasn't on properly, so I have to still figure it out, but that's nearly 7 hrs of walking for both of us.  That's a ton! Abishai didn't ask for a sweet treat at all, despite walking past that area a couple of times. He'd rather have a toy to add to his collection. It lasts longer, too, although, I prefer consumables so we don't have more things to step on.

Abishai has been "I love you so much, Mommy!" all week long. I'm loving it, of course, but hate it when I have to break away to work on something. I'm hoping by cultivating a better relationship this time around (sorry older kids, but Abishai will reap the benefits of working out the kinks of parenting with you guys), our school days will be more fun and less painful. He'll love to do school with me instead of groaning. That's part of my goals right now, cultivate a relationship and establish habits. We'll see if this helps. I'm hopeful. He seemed interested when I pointed out "educational" things at the museum.

Oh goodness. One last story! When we got in the car, I pretended to be his "dolphin" that he had brought with him and purposefully left in the car. I said, "Hey, why did you leave me out in the cold?" And then I corrected myself and said, "Well, dolphins actually don't mind being in the cold water." And Abishai, piped up. "Cold water like the Arctic?" What?! Brainy child! Thank you Organauts TV show! Never underestimate the lessons taught on Nick Jr. and Disney Jr. A lot of them are educational and they do often show kindness and appropriate behavior. And I haven't found any so far that have LGBTQ or focus on African Americans or anything hot topic. I'm talking about the preschool shows, NOT the elementary shows which do start introducing those things at times. Don't worry, I'm not naive. I'm staying up to date on some of these show through Movieguide.org and other articles I find on social media.

I think that's it now. I'll post the pics and vids and give a brief summary of what it was since I described most of the stories up above. Did you notice I went from trying to be brief with bullet points and incomplete sentences to full on paragraphs? I can talk when I want to, that's for sure! It is what it is. Mama don't time to make her stories perfect.  Even when it's about the Angel child, or the Boss child, or the Snuggly one, or the Baby of the family. He's so spoiled.  Sigh. That's life!

 Oh, and he's the "never want the fun to end so I'm not tired, I don't want to go to bed" child. And then he's out in two seconds.  Abishai is my go getter!

Video playlist: TCM Abishai and Mommy Jan 30th, 2020

Abishai loves to pretend he's different characters. Yeah for Indianapolis Indians baseball!

This is Abishai's favorite baseball player (he's helping me caption this photos).

"I like Bumblebee! He talks through the radio!"

We always talk about the dinosaurs that are trying to escape the museum and the ones trying to get into the museum. And Abishai noticed the models of these elements around the museum, too.

Oh look! They saved part of the dinosaur nest! Justin (and the rest of us) were so sad that the nests were going away. He's going to be so pleased!

RRRR, I'm a triceratops!

Rrrr, I'm a T-Rex!

Sigh. I wish I could drop some Ken Ham creationist books in this stack.

We were making dinosaur skin using a mold.

Some of the different kinds of dinosaur heads.

Don't eat me!

Mommy, go fishing with me!

We were making olive oil for Daddy!

If only we could get olive oil in these big cans here in the states! Jared would be thrilled!

Abishai LOVED taking care of the turtles. He made a great vet! He wanted to bring them all back to the nest, but one little girl wouldn't give hers up. She spoke a different language so I had to tell Abishai that she didn't understand.

Flying over the Parthenon!

We stopped two times for lunch because Abishai didn't eat enough for breakfast. He didn't even notice the cotton candy in the sweet shop/coffee area as we walked by.

Trying on olive branch crowns.

Boing! Boing!

Another little boy and Abishai brought me lots of sweets in the carousel room on Level 4.

Such a cute playhouse!

What other museum do you know of that has a full size vintage carousel on their fourth floor complete with original refurbished organ?  The horse's tails are real horsehair. And I know they shut it down for about a month or two a couple of years ago to really clean and repaint it. It's incredible! And it's over 100 years old!

Pictures don't do it justice! It's so gorgeous!

Riding the carousel is free if you have a membership. But with the Access Pass, you still have to pay $1 per person. You pay into a machine and it spits out a coin for the carousel. You can't keep them though.

Super stoked about it!

Cheesy face!

Isn't it amazing?

Abishai noticed the numbers on top! Oh, it doesn't have the tent covering on top, but the ceiling has little twinkly lights. Abishai also tends to read numbers from right to left, so he said, "Five-one" instead of one-five.

Another super favorite and super noisy contraption that all my kids have spent a lot of time with. Built in 1996 and moved when they redid Science Works, it's still a fan favorite.

Levees! We went through these going to the orange grove!

It explains how water transportation works from the Great Lakes to the New Orleans Delta.

That's where all the parts of a candy bar comes from.

This isn't something we get to see at the museum. I've never been on this side of scaffolding before. Cool! I'm guessing that people climb on the steel parts in order to get up? It would still make me extremely nervous. But they did have some rails, coverings and all the metal parts were bolted into place. Pretty cool.

OOOO, I see that infamous Red Line for the electric buses that are supposed to get through traffic faster in their designated lanes! Infamous because they don't always get charged well and I don't think they are much faster. But I did see people on the platforms as we used this road to go to Monument Circle.

"Mommy, I want you to come with me! I'm scared! I did this with my lips (pouty face) because I need you!"

I tried to go up there but almost got stuck. It was quite comical.

A little bit of sandplay.

Abishai saw that someone had set this up, so he tried it. But it didn't work well. So he spent a few minutes readjusting and testing it over and over again until the ball almost reached the tend. Yeah! Science!

Abishai had to give it a little help at the very end.

Using a another ball contraption.

Tornado winds.

Check out that hair!

This is where I told that Dad where some of the Hot Wheel tracks were.

Always racing.

Literally no one around but us. So eerily quiet. So boing, boing, boing,...on our way to the Sports Experience, which was including in our $2 per person because we could only use the inside part.

His favorite part! Running!

Since we couldn't get the stompers to shoot the bean bags very well, we threw them instead.

We bought a motorcycle that matches these sets and another guy, so he had to set up a blockade.

I'm such a collector. I like to keep getting the different things in a certain series and brand. Sigh. I'm a sucker, I know.

We stopped the bad guys!

Finishing the day with screen time with Dadddy. Sitting on the table. #spoiled

Everybody is parked in their garage for the night.

Minecraft time.

And how does this kid spend 7 hrs at the Children's Museum and is still awake on the ride home AND still awake at 9pm? I wish I had his energy!

Don't all kids do this?

Saying goodbye to the van! Daddy takes it to work tomorrow for the last time to give to a mechanic to sell it at auction....except, it came back because the mechanic had surgery,...so it's still sitting in the driveway 5 days later as I write it. But we did have fun saying good bye and "Thank you for your service" Marie Kondo (or whatever her name is) style!

One last drive!

We brought this baby home in this van. This van went to Canada and back two times, and New Orleans numerous other times. Sigh. Good bye!

Cute set!

Ok, this is a random pic, but anyway, there it is. Lots of adventures in this vehicle. I miss it already. I was trying to put things in the new red van but it's much smaller. Sigh.

Now onto DSLR pics of the day. I didn't take a lot though, at least, not as many as I usually do. We did visit every exhibit, but stayed longer in some. We zipped through Space.

Oh so pretty.

We played with trains for a little bit. I was ready to sit down and read a bit but he was off and running again. Oh, and I said I was going to work on taking better pictures, i.e. getting down on his level and zooming in and getting better lighting. So here's one of them.

My fav.

Awww, they relocated some things!

Dinosaur playtime.

Mommy, I'm a good digger! Come dig with me! We'll race!

Oh so sweet!

I think these computer games need updating next because we couldn't get this one to work very well.

The new specimens from last year's real dino dig! This is why they expanded the lab! Ah! Real bones!

So it used to be just on the right there, and now they've expanded it to to the left. That's where the dino nest was. They didn't rehome the dinosaur egg examining microscopes. The footage was getting old.

We found Spiderman and Han Solo in carbonite!

We found Batman!

Finding our favorite comic book characters.

Han Solo from Episode V.

Lots of Monopolies!

Mommy Walkie Guy!

An older Little People house! Mine was from the '80's.

Slightly different from my Ariel doll.

Nice Star Wars action figure collection.

My Little Pony, the originals.

Abishai wanted them all!

"Bucky" is the Jake the Pirate ship to the left.

How did you used to listen to music?

Listening to different sounds made by Greek instruments.

We got to strum this bouzoohi!

Traditonal Greek dress.

Vet Abishai at your service.

Covering up the nest to make sure the eggs stay warm.

This is what the Children's Museum's original building looked like.

A New England staircase.

Let's piece the Mummy back together. These used to be big foam blocks. Now they are heavy duty plastic sheets that they use around drumsets on stage.

Abishai wasn't too happy when he moved all the pieces from one tower to the other and then other kids were moving them back. However, he eventually came into some agreement with them and was gently bossing them around.

We found the Lego Star Wars game!

A better picture of the ball contraption.

He played with the balls while I looked at the Harry Potter display.

Oh wow, this is one of those $600 Lego sets. Wowzers!

Broom for Quidditch, a game like field hockey.

Maurader's map. Only certain kids can see what it does.

Mini minigures! And a car in a whomping tree!

Classrooms.

Water table fun.

These are the kinds of photos I don't usually have the time to line up properly. Sweet! He's getting the tractors ready for a show down with the monster trucks.

Who will win?

Bang! Fight!

Wowzers! High tech game!

Run, run, run!

When the Colts won the Superbowl against the Patriots.

Superbowl 41 Champions! The winning game ball!

What the cheerleaders wore in 1984 when the Colts became the Indianapolis Colts. Notice how high the boots are. The boots for a current uniform are twice as high.

You have to stomp a light weight cube/ball but it doesn't work that well. So we threw them instead.

Hotwheels forever.

The bad guy, or cheater, and the rest of the pack.

Trying out a Greek helmet and sword.

Great stats from church!

And lastly, Michael W. Smith shared a framed piece of paper on his Instagram feed. This is the original piece of notebook paper for his infamous song "Friends!" Check out all the changes in the lyrics! Debbie actually wrote the lyrics, by the way, so it's her handwriting. I left it on extra large so you can read it. So neat for Throwback Thursday!

The End