Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week Claude had a Government & Local Issues Conference in Louisville. Since that is right next to LaGrange (sort of) I tagged along. Claude was at the conference during the day and spent the nights with the Marx's. I just stayed at the Marx's. However, this trip I forgot my camera. So I must begin this blog entry by thanking Andie for taking great pictures for us. Monday we met the Marx family at a park between their home and Louisville. It was a beautiful park with a clean stream running through it, a bridge over the stream, a nice picnic table under a pavillion and up the hill a lovely little playland area. This was Andie's Mom's Club playdate. Claude left me with Andie and the kids and headed into Louisville to the Galt House for his meetings. Hayden and Bailey were happy to see Ma so we headed across the bridge to watch the most beautiful dragonflies. These we called skeeter hawks when I was a kid. The dragonflies had iridescent bodies so sometimes they appeared a shiny green and sometimes a shiny blue color. But their wings were all very black. They were just striking in color and there were lots of them in the grasses and along the stream. We didn't ever catch one but we had fun trying. We joined the rest of the group at the picnic table for a quick bite of pizza before hitting the playground. I was amazed at how the mini-Marx's have learned to climb and pull themselves up on this equipment. This particular playground set was well equipped with bridges and walkways for the parents to be on to supervise the kidlings. Parents and grandparents really appreciate when these are a part of the playland construction. Then it was down to the picnic tables for a craft project. The kids were each given a pair of binoculars made out of toilet paper rolls and yarn. Then they were given stickers to decorate their binoculars. Next we took a hike to see what we could find with their binoculars. Back to the stream for the hike, over the bridge and down the grassy area along the stream. After the hike it was back to the picnic tables for popsicles, then a little balancing walk for Hayden and Bailey along the rock wall, then mom's started to take kids home for quiet times. We cleaned up the spot and were the final ones out of the parking lot. This was Jamison and Andie's time to host the playdate so it was their turn to leave last. At Andie's home the kids did quiet time, then we spent some time outside with bikes and sandbox and water table and wading pool time. Then a bite of dinner and off to bed for Hayden and Bailey. Michael was in Toronto so after Claude returned from his meetings we had adult swim with Andie, Claude and me. Tuesday Claude headed out to his meetings. We cut Andie's hair and Bailey's bangs in the morning. Then Hayden and Andie headed to the store for some errands, Bailey and I stayed and played. Hayden and Andie picked up Charlotte from pre-school and brought her back to the house in time for lunch. Then Hayden and Charlotte played until Jamison came to pick her up. It's fun to watch the little ones interacting with other kids. It is a process we learn and, as we get older, we forget we went through that to learn our people skills. This is part of the joy of watching little ones...remembering what all that learning process is like. Andie had a craft night with her friends Tuesday night. She and Jamison were going to teach them how to decorate cupcakes. Claude got home about 5pm. Bailey woke up from her nap. Hayden already snuck downstairs before his quiet time was finished. Claude and I bundled up Hayden and Bailey and were off to McDonald's for dinner. Our plan was to have dinner at McDonald's and then head to a nearby park, thus giving Andie a little time alone to prepare and meet and greet her guests. There was a playland at McDonald's and the kids were having so much fun and it was sooooo much cooler inside the air-conditioned McDonald's that we stayed and played there and never made it to the park. Bailey became acquainted with Ronald McDonald. Hayden found a friend and they were up and down and all over the tubing and slides. We did have one thing Grampa made a correction on. They gave him a girl and a boy toy in the kids Happy Meals. Bailey really wanted the car like Hayden's. She never threw a fit or even asked but you could tell she really liked the car better than the paperdolls. So while they were playing, Grampa quietly got up and got another Happy Meal with a boy toy in it. Fortunately, this car was different in color and style so they could each have a car and tell them apart easily.

Michael returned from Toronto and was at home when we returned from our outing. The kids were so happy to see daddy. We got them ready for bed, had a quick show, and then off to bed for the kids. Michael and Claude tried to watch TV but not much was on. I visited the ladies downstairs making cupcakes for a while but then headed up to the bedroom to work my Sudoku for a bit. Wednesday was just a talk by Coach Calipari (spelling??). Claude didn't feel a need to listen to that, so we plotted an outing to the Louisville Science Center. The Marx family has membership in this and Hayden LOVES to go there. We parked under the highway along the river. Just as we got there a tug boat pushing huge barges of coal was headed up the Ohio River, probably to Cincinnati. We paused to let the kids watch this process. I love tug boats. I think they are the unsung heros of the rivers and harbor areas. These tough little boats just are so strong and keep on keeping on doing the heavy pushing and moving in the waterways. It also amazes me that they can keep several barges going in the same direction on the rivers. Try putting a toy car behind several blocks lined up and then pushing that car and keeping the line of blocks all going the same direction. I'm sure they have them linked together somehow but it is still not an easy task and I'm sure it takes lots of skill. They kids really enjoyed watching this river transportation in operation.

Then we made the walk up the next block to the Science Center. The outside has lots of purple paint, I liked that part. They also have an enormous mirror on the wall before you enter the building. This mirror is made up of many tiles of mirror and is concave in appearance. We visited the sound area with a room full of drums, lots of things to watch sound waves and hear different kinds of sounds. Next we were off to check out the human body. We played with teeth. Weighed foods to see how many calories we had to burn for what we ate, watched how our bodies fight germs when we are stuck with a thorn or stung by a bug, checked out x-ray slides under a microscope, and lots of other things. There were bones to touch and move around, pictures of the inside of your body, stomachs and hearts and spines. It was all very interesting and kept the mini's moving as their attention would be caught by something and off they would go to see what it was.

We went through a portion that is about drinking and drugs. The thing that caught Hayden and Bailey's attention here was the bright yellow car that you could drive. They had a video in front that responded to how you drove the car. It could tell you what your blood/alcohol level would be by the way you drove. The kids really over-steered, being new to the driving process, and were fascinated by going over the cliff or hitting a tree or sign by the road.

Claude found a nice spot to sit and watch the weather.

There was a great table with toys that you connect and make all kinds of things. You are only limited by your imagination. I helped Hayden a little and then began going around the table taking apart things others had made and left and putting the pieces back into the bins for others to use. Claude and Andie just shook their heads. They saw it as cleaning up, I saw it as making it ready for others to find lots to play with. Hayden loves this part of the Science Center. Andie said Michael loves this part also.

Next to this room is a room with some dinosaur bones. There are also some stuffed animals. At the end by the windows are lots of tables with a book shelf. There is an little incline to get into and out of this room and Bailey loved running up and down it. Later, Bailey and Pa took some time to look at some of the books.

One area had lots of stuffed animals. There was a cave that kids could walk through with display cases in it of things you find underground. Outside was a tree with a telescope that you could look into and see what was in the top branches of the tree. As you turned the telescope around you could hear the sound of what you were seeing through it, like bees and birds, etc. The last place we went was the Kid's Zone. This is only for kids 7 years old and under and their parents. Hayden and I sat in a police car and he would work the flashing light at the top. We then found Claude and Andie in the comfortable seats while Bailey drove a bus. There was the inside of an ambulance. There was a shopping section with a cash register, play money and food. There was a pretend plane you could walk through. They had telephones that you could hear and talk in on different levels of the plane. There were lots of string of beads hanging from the ceiling at one point. They felt really cool to walk through and play with. Hayden played with the puppets and the puppet stage. There was a monitor that you could see yourself in as you played puppets. Claude took Hayden and then Bailey for a ride on the conveyor belt.

In the back of the Kid's Zone was a wonderful water table play area. They provide rain coats to protect the kids from getting wet. Even though Bailey wore a bright yellow one, she was still drenched by the time she was finished. The water table begins with a round table with a bubble like spray to keep it filled. This round part has plastic fish and sharks and boats. Claude showed Bailey that the bubble had no water under it and you could part it with your finger. She found her shark for the rest of the play time and toted it with her all through the water area. After the round water table there is a slanted trough to a lower area. This slanted part has places to put squares of wood or foam to direct the water different ways. At the bottom of the slant is another rounded area with lots of water spouts. In the room is a shelf full of PVC pipe in different shapes and sizes. The kids can attach these to the hoses and spouts to see what they can make and direct the water different ways. Then the water continues in a trough that lines the walls in the back of the room. There are all kinds of pipes and taps to change the flow and amount of water coming out into the trough. Along the last wall is another trough coming into the back of the room. It has 2 lanes it in that you could actually have boat races in. You can set the level of water coming out of the tap at the end. It is a great place for kids to play in the water but you should really bring a change of clothes because they can still get wet.

After playing in the water there are air hand dryers that the kids tried to dry off in a bit. Hayden was trying to get his shirt dry. Bailey was just wet all down the side where the water ran into her raincoat and down her side and pants.

There was a craft project in the Kid's Zone. The lady was trying to keep things in a certain order and was not very flexible with Bailey. Bailey was just faster than her when it came to picking out a color for her picture and picking the next picture she wanted to color. This poor lady wanted to give detailed instruction to a 2 year old. Not gonna happen folks! But Bailey had a good time. Hayden had Claude in a rocking chair reading a book.

We then headed to Subway for lunch. Subway is right next door and we were all very ready to have a bite to eat. This particular Subway is air conditioned at a really cold level. By the time Bailey got through eating she was just shivering. We got Bailey and Hayden each a bag of chips. Bailey LOVES, I mean really, really loves chips. She was so cute just shivering and not stopping eaching every one of those chips. She is definitely a dedicated chip eater.

Then we headed back to the cars and the Marx's headed to LaGrange and Claude and I headed to Georgetown so I could sing with Papa at the nursing home before going back to Sadieville.

It was delightful 3 days. Thank you Marx's for a great visit!!!