Port Discovery

Last Wednesday, Abigail and I hitched a ride with Bean and Lilly and went up to Port Discovery, along with a handful of friends from school. It was a long day, but so much fun!

In the parking lot, getting ready to go in.

Our first stop - the Oasis, with their cool sandboxes. I think the girls might have been happy to hang here all day, lol.

Lilly


The sand was sooo white and sparkly... kind of entrancing lol.

We had arranged this trip on this particular day so we could see "the butterfly exhibit," which had been described to us as this amazing exhibit with butterflies that would thrill and astound our littles with its wonder.

It was slightly exaggerated.

As in, it was a craft table.

:)

We did make pretty butterflies, though! In case anyone is interested, this is how you make butterflies: you take one coffee filter, color it like crazy with markers, then spritz it 2-3 times with a water bottle. The water makes the colors from the markers swirl and dissipate, then you pinch it with a clothespin to create the "body" and "wings", and wave it a few times to dry.

They had this neat giant conveyer-belt-game wherein you fit the shapes into the slots on top before they disappeared. Note: If anyone front Port Discovery is reading this, it needs step stools, people! :) Abby is two months away from being 4 and could barely reach on tippy-toes (that didn't really stop her, though, lol).

Next we wandered into the reading room where Abby discovered a lion.

Let me just say, she was convinced she wanted to spend the entire day right there, snuggled up to a giant stuffed lion. She was tickled. :)

We wandered upstairs to check out the nano exhibit.

And then - Waterworks!

Dear Port Discovery:
Thank you for the loaner slickers and crocs. It's a brilliant idea. Thank you.


Water band!

Science experiment: sink or float? Abby was really good at this.

The big bubble maker! Lol, we couldn't actually get it to work, despite Bean and mine's best tries, but it was fun to see.

Building waterways.

Clifford the Big Red Dog! Good timing, since we just "discovered" Clifford last week when Abby brought one the books home from school.

After a busy morning, Bean and I were ready for lunch (and I think the girls were ready for some peace and quiet, too - it was very noisy inside!).

We went across the street to Joe Squared.

It was lovely; we sat outdoors - I love this weather! - and the waitress was friendly and helpful. No kids menu, so I was trying to find something Abby would share with me. Since she's a huge rice fan, I thought maybe she'd share some risotto with me (and let's be honest, it also sounded amazing).

She was all for the idea until she saw Lilly's pizza, and then she wanted pizza. She's never eaten pizza with me before (she doesn't like the cheese), but Lilly graciously offered her a slice, and lo and behold, she ate it.

Back to the museum!

We wandered through the Egypt display...

Checked out the 50's Diner...

And then decided to let the kids run through at least part of the giant indoor climbing ground.

I am not afraid of heights - or at least, I've never been afraid of heights before - but for some reason this freaked me out once we were inside. I don't know if it was the netting or the squishyness of the floor (I kinda felt like my feet were gonna sink through the ground), but it threw me.

Abster and Lilly had no such qualms however. :)

At the end of our very long day, we packed the girls back into their carseats with beloved blankets and stuffed animals, snacks and juice boxes, made a Starbucks stop for the grown-ups, and headed home. :)