Strong National Museum of Play

On Tuesday morning, we all drove over to the Strong Museum.  This is another tradition; we always visit the Strong Museum.  It is one of the coolest children's museums I have ever been to.

Remember I said this museum is a tradition?  Well, here is a picture of Tyler and Auntie Karen in that same Big Bird nest about eleven years ago!

They both look so young!  I'm glad I found this picture - too cute.

The coolest part of the Strong Museum is the mini Wegmans grocery store.  Reagan could not wait to get in there.  It wasn't the first part of the museum we explored, and that was a mistake because she kept asking when we were going there!  All of the grocery items are in real packaging and the cash registers print real receipts listing the actual items rung up by the child because the upc codes actually scan correctly!!!

The conveyor belts work too!  The whole process is so real.  I wish I enjoyed grocery shopping as much as my children do!

 There are many other fun and exciting parts of the museum to explore.

 Collin played Fur Elise from memory for Auntie Karen; that is his favorite music to play.

 Kate may not like real sand, but she played in this fake sand (tiny plastic beads) for quite a while.  It was in the arcade, and she played in it the entire time Collin and Reagan played video games.  Reagan liked the "sand" too.

The museum also has a butterfly exhibit that is very nice.  It was a bit stressful with Kate though!  She kept pulling at flowers and leaves, and trying to grab the butterflies.  She also wanted to get in the water with the turtles.

We spent five hours in the museum and I don't think we saw half of what they have there.  I also think that is the longest amount of time Kate has ever spent anywhere out in public!  All of the kids were great there, and they had a lot of fun!  The adults had a good time too; it's a fun place!