Exploring the Decatur Children's Museum

The endless cold and piles of snow have kept us cooped in side for far too long in the Midwest.  The indoor activities are becoming very redundant and I cringe anymore when Mickey Mouse saunters onto the television screen with his big goofy grin and wave.  M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E has been stuck in my head too many times to count this winter.  It’s all just getting a little O-L-D.

Aside from pulling the plug on the Disney Junior channel, and ultimately Mickey for my sanity, which would break Miss A’s heart, we needed something to do to get out of the house this past weekend.  After a grumpy toddler meltdown, we bundled up and headed to the local Children’s Museum (with her Minnie Mouse doll in hand, of course).  We had been there once before baby when we were volunteering with Big Brothers, Big Sisters; however that had been many years ago and things are so much more special when experiencing them through the eyes of your own child.

In our grand plan of getting out of the house, we failed to check the Children’s Museum website and ultimately chose a really bad day for our first outing.  The parking lot was packed when we arrived.  Maybe it’s just a birthday party, we said with optimism.  The crowded lot would not destroy our cold day adventure.

Once we entered the building, packed with parents, toddlers and teenagers, we quickly learned it was not a birthday party, but a special event day which drew a huge crowd.  Since we were already there we decided to make the best of the day.  

Anderson clung to JC’s shoulders as she was overwhelmed with the sights, sounds and number of kids running around the space. Once she decided to join in the crazy, loud fun, she found that she loved the “choo choo.”  The hanging train display rolled through a path around the climbing jungle gym.  Another favorite was the new Seed to Shelf area, where she got to throw the fruits and vegetables into their designated bins in the grocery store.  She also liked pushing the grocery cart around and finding food to buy.  The water table was another hit.

Miss A suffered a hit too.  She was gleefully running between the exhibits and got football tackled by a bigger kid, also running between displays.  The kid apologized and felt very badly.  Anderson quickly recovered herself and went back to playing.  She’s a resilient little thing, and was having too much fun to let a tackle by a big kid keep her down.  

We did not get to explore much of the second floor exhibits as that was where the special event was being held.  It was pure madness upstairs with teenagers running around screaming.  When we tried to venture upstairs to check it out, we quickly decided it wasn't worth the headache.

Overall, we really enjoyed the Decatur Children’s Museum and will definitely go back to visit, but not before checking the website for the special events calendar!  Lesson learned there.