"Markles" and That Thing Called 'Sleep'

First things first .... sleep is a major topic of interest when a wee one is in the house. Our precious Kathryn had settled into a nice routine of sleeping from 11-7. While it left very little "Mommy Time" or "Mommy and Daddy Time," it was acceptable because it meant Mommy could sleep 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. As of late, our darling has decided it's time to settle into a "normal routine" ... one that includes an earlier bedtime. I am thrilled that she is finally starting to settle into a predictable nap schedule, having so much more awake time during the day, and I do love having evenings to unwind and relax (and spend time with my hubby). The "joy" that comes along with changing the norm with a 3 month old is working out the kinks! Right now, that means learning how to go to sleep (and sleep all night), without waking til morning. Yay for an earlier bedtime, but boy it's making it harder on mommy waking up twice a night again after being spoiled with uninterrupted sleep. I was doing so well with waking up at 6:30-7 with her and staying awake after she drifted back to sleep, until she decided she needs to wake up at 1am, 5am, and 6:30 again. I am just plain too pooped to get out of bed at 6:30 for the day and have been drifting back to sleep with her. Boy that really puts a damper on my nice routines I was putting into place. Our peanut went to bed at 9pm tonight (after having a semi-cluster nursing before bed). Here's to hoping for a full night of sleep!

Now onto "Markles." I am sure you are wondering what in the world I am referring to. Today we took Carissa on a field trip to Marbles Kid's Museum. When we told Carissa we were going to Marbles, she kept trying to combine "marbles" and "markers" together, and it came out as "Markles." So the whole way there, she kept asking for "markles." We had a blast.
We decided to forgo nap time today in hopes of missing the "school field trip crowds" and arrived at Marbles around 2pm.
Our first stop was the Splash exhibit! Of course Carissa LOVED it because of all the water! This child loves water! She first spotted the fountain outside, so we ventured out to see the water. There they also had a display for hydro-power. Carissa got to take the boat to the top and watch the water move the boat down to the end. After a while, she gave up on the slow moving boat and decided that it was more fun to scoop the water with the cup.




Her next favorite place was the submarine. She loved all the buttons she could push, the "lab" where she could look at a "specimen" under the black light using the tongs, and looking through the periscope. Daddy tried to take her on the pirate ship, but to his dismay she just drug him back to the submarine :) Poor Daddy :(






Next was the garden! Our little girl already loves to water plants, so we were excited to see they had a place for her to water plants. She picked up the first watering can, dipped into the bucket of water and dumped it all on the plant a couple times. Sat that can down, and moved onto the next. She did this with about 3 or 4 watering cans. I love that she has a love for nature!




We then moved on to the Around Town exhibit. Here she got to play with a train set, dress up and put on a show (well, she put on the galoshes and played on the stage), glue an art page, drive the fire truck, boat, car, and ambulance, see dinosaurs, go down a slide, and shop for some groceries. Her favorites were driving the car and the boat! :)
The whole time Carissa was playing, Kathryn was enjoying watching her every movement. It will be so neat to see the two of them run around playing together.




Once we finally convinced her to go see another exhibit, we stopped briefly in the Storybook Forest. Kathryn seemed to enjoy this exhibit more than Carissa. Carissa did not want us to stop, and sit down to read. She wanted to play! But Kathryn just LOVED it when Daddy started reading to her. At least until Carissa decided she'd had enough of that exhibit and headed off to the next. It was in this moment that David laid down my camera, almost to never be seen again. What was a great day almost ended tragically when alllllll of my pictures from the day went missing. It was at this point that I have no more pictures to upload - until I can get some from David's phone. Luckily though as we were about to leave (had to stop in the potty for Carissa), and when we came out someone was turning my camera into lost and found! What a relief!! I told David that I am going to stop letting him use my camera. I always end up needing my camera fixed or a new one because of him ;) But he lucked out this time :-D

The rest of the time was spent exploring neat things like making cars go down ramps, playing with Frigits (cool magnets that you can set up in such a way that when you drop a marble in it, the marble travels down the path from one piece to the next), a kitchen area, and sports area. Carissa had a blast in the kitchen area. She cooked, and stirred, and "ate," and made smoothies in the blender. But the cutest thing was seeing her wear a chefs hat. She had so much fun playing!
We have talked about getting the membership and taking her here often. She had a GREAT Day!
And afterward, as we were driving away both her and Kathryn fell asleep.
Although, we didn't travel home just yet. We stopped in and bought her a "pink bicycle" (aka tricycle) for her birthday. She is in love with it already! Hopefully it will escape her mind until next Saturday because we are hiding it tonight while she is sleeping so we can present it to her at her party! I am so thrilled that 6 months ago when we decided that her birthday would be a good time to get her a trike, we couldn't have been more right about the timing! She is in love with "bicycles" ... now we just have to teach her to use the pedals! :)It truly has been a wonderful family day!! I love when David and I both have the same day off! :)