Decoding Da Vinci with Cami

We got some visitors on Monday in the form of my good friend Cami and her kids. Cami and I were friends all growing up and we've managed to keep in touch. She was kind enough to come up for a visit and we had a wonderful time. She arrived, with her 3 kids, about an hour and a half before Ben and Sarah got out of school. After about an hour, Hannah and Gracie finally got Julia to go downstairs and play with them. Julia's a year older than Hannah and she loved playing with her new friend (even though they've met before, they were still new friends.) Sarah Kate was so excited when she walked through the door and saw Samantha sitting on the couch. Samantha is a year older than Sarah and the two became good friends last time they came up. Ben was happy to see Daren. Last time Cami came she left Daren home with his Dad because Daren is 12 and Ben is 6. Those ages don't exactly play together on a regular basis, but Daren was playing the PlayStation when Ben got home. If there's anything that will bring a 6 year old boy and a 12 year old boy together it's video games. The two of them got a long very well. It was nice to have all our kids playing so nice together so Cami and I could talk and catch up.

We talked for a few hours and then headed of the the Museum of Idaho. They are currently having an exhibit entitled 'Decoding Da Vinci.' They have many replica's of the things Da Vinci designed, built, and painted. I was a little nervous about how my many kids would do at the museum and I'm happy to report that overall they did quit well (hopefully Cami agrees.) They had a lot of hands on things for the kids to explore and try and work. It kept their attention and saved them from being bored. I love hands on things for kids. I think it's a wonderful way to let them learn and explore. Here are some pictures from the museum. Thanks again Cami for sharing them with me.

They had lots of things to turn and pull and break. OK, my girls only broke one thing, but it wasn't really their fault, it was just bad timing. The string broke on a pulley, but don't worry it was fixable.

I always new Da Vinci painted and built things, but I never realized how much he did. It was kind of cool.

The room of mirrors, a favorite of the girls. :)

This was a war machine. It was designed to cut people in half and the picture telling about it showed just that. It was pretty funny and I tend to think not real practical.

Here's Ben trying not to wack himself with a ball.

Way to go little wooden man. Kenny would be so proud.

A tank. I saw them try to recreate this on Discovery Channel.

Julia is standing in front of one of my favorite displays. When I walked in this room I thought it was a man being hung.

Taking a closer look we discovered it's some kind of scuba gear.

Sarah and Samantha were trying to recreate a bridge designed by Da Vinci.

They needed a little help from me. I wasn't much help though and we finally gave up and moved on to keep the little kids entertained.

A water screw. Getting water from the bottom to the top. Very cool and the girls had fun with it.

After we finished the Da Vinci stuff we headed to the kids area. I love this area and so do my kids. It's a great place to climb, discover, dress-up, and just have fun. Here's some things we did:

Ben making a moose track.

Dan taking a break in the log cabin. He was a very good boy at the museum and stayed in the stroller nicely the entire time we looked at the Da Vinci stuff. He was really happy to get out of the stroller and explore the kids area.

Doing puzzles.

Sleeping in a tepee.

More naps. This is how she normally takes naps at home too. :)

Being scary with animals.

Cami tends to bring out the goofy side of me. I love it and I think it's a side I need to show more often. After taking nemourous shot of me making a fool out of myself, I told her we needed one with both of us together. Her son Daren took this one and for some strange reason he thought we were weird.

Sarah and Samantha dressed up and wanted their picture taken in all their outfit. Here they're mountain men and are joined by Ben.

Indian's outside their tepee.

Staying warm by their pillow fire. Very creative.

Pioneer folk doing some chores.

Wow that looks like a hard water pump to use.

The fake horse was a huge hit with my kids.

Just before we left Sarah and Samantha had to clean up the dress ups. They really wanted Cami to take their picture.

Very nicely done girls. I wish Sarah cleaned that well and that willingly at home.

After the museum we went to Arctic Circle for a quick meal and playtime before we had to head off the pick up Kenny. It was a bad end to a wonderful day. Ben was uncharacteristically grumpy. He was throwing tantrums and feeling very picked on because he couldn't have exactly what he wanted. It's times like these I'm reminded of just how lucky I am to have the kids I have. This was so unlike Ben that I was unsure how to handle it. I'm just grateful it not an everyday occurrence, it was very embarrassing.

It was a fabulous day and I'm so grateful Cami made the long drive to see us. It was so fun to watch our kids play together and it was so nice to catch up. There's something about the comfortableness of long time friends that's so wonderful. I've needed this day for a long time. Thanks again Cami!