Children's Museum - Rochester

A few weeks ago, we went up to Rochester, NY to visit BD's family.

We went on a work/school day so BD had to work from home and I usually keep Blake busy during the day. Sitting in front of the TV isn't our ideal kind of day... Blake gets antsy and goes wild and crazy. I figure if he's going to go wild and crazy, he might as well create something with his energy. So we do crafts, visit parks, go on play dates, and visit children's museums.

While we were in Rochester, we visited the one there. And it was AWESOME! We have one close to us in Baltimore, MD but it's NOTHING like the museum up north. Holy moly... there were activities and different rooms around every corner. It felt like the activities and play rooms never ended. Every 10 steps, there was something else to enjoy.

There was a Sesame Street themed part of the museum and Blake absolutely loved seeing the familiar faces of his favorite characters around the place. He event spent time in Elmo's World!

There were fish all over the place! When you walk in, there's a huge saltwater tank, and then more fish displayed as you continue to walk towards the activities. And koi fish in butterfly garden...

Yup... they even had a butterfly garden! It sounds pretty cheesy but it was actually really cool. It was very relaxing... calming for the kids...

Blake loved it! He chased the butterflies and one actually landed on him. He was so excited and wouldn't stop pointing at them. He's such a creature lover.

I'm definitely going to be looking for play places around our area that are more similar to that children's museum.

Soccer

Blake started soccer classes yesterday. I signed him up for one clinic which is 6 weeks long with a Certifikid deal. I figured it was a good deal, and for 6 weeks of activity and social interaction with other kids it was a little cheaper than his My Gym classes.

His classes are Saturday mornings. I honestly thought it would be a class with a few little ones running around just kicking the ball and playing. But it was actually really organized and really encouraged the kids to work on their hand-eye coordination and listening skills.

I was so proud of Blake! He hasn't really picked up on the kicking motion yet but he did really well after watching the other kids kick the ball. There were times when he still picked the ball up with his hands, but the instructor was very kind and gentle in teaching him to kick instead.

What made me so proud was that Blake did really well at following directions... and he TRIED! He really tried to kick the ball. He did great at "Stop and Go" and "Fast and Slow." They were both games the instructor did where the kids lined up side by side and as the instructor said "fast" the kids would run fast towards the goal on the other end, "slow" and the kids would walk slowly to the goal, "stop" and of course they would stop.

He had fun and we could see he enjoyed himself!

We can't wait to back this coming Saturday! We'll be practicing our kicking skills until then.