We had such a good time - oh to have a smaller camera!

Padon and I went to the Science Center again on Sunday and I totally forgot to bring my camera! Again! I wish I had a smaller one so it was pocket size and I could just carry it in my jacket because there were so many wonderful picturesque moments. I'm going to upgrade my phone sometime in the next 6 months (personal goal) so I can have a "Go" phone that has a camera. That would rock!

So anyway, with the power of google and old pictures I have been able to come up with some pictures close to what I would have taken myself had I been able to.

Sunday is Padon and my day together without Walter and I suddenly felt that we needed to go to the Science Center. So I got a lunch together, Padon's umbrella stroller (totally bus friendly), his backpack of diapers and things, and my bus pass and we made a bee line for the Everett Freeway Station, hopped on the bus which is always fun for Padon and made our way to Seattle. Traffic was great and we were down in Seattle in no time. The closest we can get to the Seattle Center is one mile without waiting for and taking a second bus and so we always walk it. Sadly as far as Downtown Seattle goes it is through an always uneventful part of town. It would be fun if we had to pass through the Pike Place Market or something because there would be all kinds of cool things to see and smell but that would be in the wrong direction.

So Padon just sat uninterested in his stroller until we had checked in at the Member Station of the Pacific Science Center and started down the wheel chair ramp. But the minute we rounded the corner he suddenly errupted in bursts of excitement, arms pumping, because he totally recognized where we were. After a short potty break for me we made a bee line for room 1 where the dinosaurs were and Padon got even more energetic. He loved the dinosaurs. And I mean love! With lots of growling and roaring and running back and forth and slapping at the tiny plexiglass dinosaur displays on baby thigh level I thought we might end up staying in this one room all day. It was the dinosaurs pictured below that really peaked Padon's interest and we had to visit them quite a few times with of course more roaring and clenching of fists in a Tyrannosaurus Rex fashion.

After we broke away from the Dinosaurs we made our way to the Tot play area in room 2 where there were a lot of things to play with. But the water feature seemed to be where all the fun was and Padon wouldn't stop drinking the water and so we had to leave. We moved onto the Insect Village where the "Human Fly" resides and where when you push his button he starts talking about coming inside his circus tent to see the death defiying diving beattle, and other really cool bugs. This was the first time Padon got that pushing the button outside the Human Fly's inclosure made him talk and he pushed it again and again until another little boy his age took over and Padon was too shy to go up and push it anymore.
Over all he seemed to miss, even when I showed him, that there were bugs in the aquariums to look and ogle over but he did feel the need to hug this catepiller quite a few times and to plaster himself against the windows in the back ground licking the window for good measure. (I'm amazed at the gross things he comes up with to put in his mouth. I tell myself this is his way of keeping himself from getting really really sick... Well he hasn't gotten sick yet so my theory proves correct so far.)

We finally wandered out and I thought with how much he was getting so far that he might get the tidal pool. I washed his hands as directed and tried to show him the hermit crabs which he couldn't see and so I brushed his fingers gently through the pink sea anemone. He got that, and got that they feel a little sticky, and he didn't like it. Huh, licking public carpet is not gross but touching a sea anemone gets a "ugh!" response. Maybe he hit his head harder on the pavement getting out of the car then I thought.

I kept asking Padon if he wanted lunch as my stomach was telling me again and again lets have lunch and finally he responded in a way that meant, yeah, let's have lunch! We made our way to the Seattle Center Fountain and plunked ourselves down in a Seagull poo free spot and had lunch. It was really nice. Padon was so cute as he kept putting his balogna purposely back on the tupperware top/ plate with both hands and placing his cup gently back to his right side as he gingerly reached for more banana. It was just sunny enough to keep us warm and there were other people sitting around us listening to the music being played in time to the fountain. It was just such a pleasant lunch.

By the time we finished lunch Padon started to shiver so we went in the Center house to warm up and change his diaper and gaze longly down at the Children's Museum on the 1st floor. I'm dying to take Padon there and I think I will for his 2nd birthday because even he was dying to go down there but it is too expensive to go on a whim. It is supposedly 8,400sq ft of wonderful tiny tot goodness and how can you go wrong with that.

To the left of the look down on the Children's Museum is the dance floor Center House. And on this floor they had set up a bunch of little kid push cars for kids 5 and under. I asked Padon if he wanted to go ride the cars and he totally lit up. I don't know where he was holding in the energy. He sat on a little red car and rocked back and forth and finally got that if he shuffled his feet he would scoot forward but I think he still only went 5 feet and then sat content, rocking, watching the other kids. About this time two kids about the age of 9 and 7 came and made it not a safe place for kids under 5 as they were tearing around with the cars. I was so irritated. So it was a perfect excuse to give another little boy the car when there was no car to ride because the 9 year old and 7 year old had each taken one.

I offered Padon the stroller to ride in but he still wanted to walk having walked this whole time with a little kid harness which surprisingly he was loving to wear, and hug, and caress. He picked it out himself :).We must have gone about two more city blocks on our way out of the center before I asked him again and he turned to the stroller. I put him in and he immediately fell asleep. He slept the mile back to the bus stop, the 30 minute wait for the bus, and almost the whole bus ride back to Everett. What an amazing and wonderful day we had. It was really tough to get up the next morning and not be there to greet him when he woke up and to not have the opportunity to do more things with him. It is times like that, that hurt my heart to not be the one home with him. When the weather turns warm we will have to explore the greater Snohomish area every weekend. That will be so much fun! What a great Sunday!