Pittsburgh Children's Museum

Bryce loved it here when we went on Tuesday. This museum is huge and has 3 floors. The second flood is totally dedicated to toddlers and moms with small babies. We skipped that floor but did the 1st and 3rd floors. It was hard to get Bryce to leave; Especially since the last floor we visited was a water area. I didn't take my camera out because kids were playing with water everywhere. There were make your own fountain areas, fog machines, and Bryce's favorite was the huge water table where boats were tested and you could make them sink by creating whirlpools.

Bryce wouldn't stand by Clifford himself, so my brother Adam went with him to have his picture taken. This was the highlight of our trip for Bryce.

In the art room, my mom and Bryce pose in front of an exhibit that was made completely out of recycled materials. The kids could go in the back and make the penguins flippers flap, and there were microphones they could use to make the polar bear roar.
This is the huge real-life sized Clifford they had in his exhibit area. Bryce was so excited to be there that he wouldn't sit still for the picture.

Bryce sitting on the swing outside of the Mr Roger's neighborhood exhibit. Mr Roger's neighborhood was filmed in Pittsburgh, and the museum had all his puppets and Trolley on display.

Bryce climbing through an enclosed maze they had on display. Once he got 2 rows from the top, he was too short to climb any higher. He was disappointed, but I told him that next time he will be big enough.

We did go to an ice cream parlor that has existed since 1922 after the museum and it was really cool--a total transport through time. I forgot to take my camera in with us though.
If anyone is in need of ideas for a family fun time, I highly recommend the Children's Museum and zoo. We had a GREAT TIME!!!

Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

This past Monday we traveled to Pittsburgh so that we could take Bryce to see Clifford the Big Red Dog at the Children's Museum. The museum has meet Clifford on Tuesdays, so we went to the zoo and aquarium Monday. Bryce loved seeing all the animals. The elephants were his favorite, but we couldn't see them too well. We also went thorough the monkey house and it STANK. Bryce held his nose the entire time, but we did get some good monkey shots!!!
Here, a young zoo helper was recording information on the Komodo dragon. He was right at the glass, and Bryce was checking him out.

One of those good monkey shots!

An authentic polar bear trap that the zoo actually used. Bryce looks like a dwarf inside it---Bryce is 40 inches tall.

They have a petting section. The visitors stay on the trail and if the animals want to be touched they will come to you. This deer was a human touch hog!!!

You could also "pet" the kangaroos in the same setup as the deer. This particular day, the kangaroos wanted NOTHING to do with humans.

Knoebel's

Today was my work picnic at Knoebel's Amusement Park. It is about a 2 hour drive from our house, but it is a really nice and family friendly park. We went there several times when I was small. It is so odd to go and do these things with my child when at one time I was the child. Everything that was so big back then, seems so small now. Anyway, Jason didn't want to go, so my mom, dad, and I took Bryce. He had a blast. Here are a few photos of his favorites ride from today.


Bryce first rode these hand cars at Strasburg and he loved them. He rode them at least 8 times today.

Bryce was ecstatic when he found out that they had kiddie bumper cars. He has wanted to ride them all season long at Hershey Park, but he is too small. Here, he is just the right size.

He's testing out his crane operating abilities by lifting and scooping stones.

Riding the little boats

Isn't it time to go home yet??

Our latest addition

Well, we finally broke down and bought a pool. They came today and installed it. I LOVE IT! After the second water truck came and finished filling it, I went on in. It was a bit cool, but it felt good!! Bryce is on restrictions until tomorrow--because of his heart cath---but he got his feet wet.
Of course, it threatened to rain all day, and tonight it really let lose. At least the pool was up and full before it rained. However, we now have a moat of MUD! It is so disgusting. I told Jason that he needs to get that filled in ASAP!!! The pics were taken before it rained.

Bryce's Heart Cath

Bryce had his follow up heart cath yesterday. When they did his final surgery last May, they left a small hole (fenestration) in case the heart encountered some "high pressures". It was kind of like a built-in release valve. The cath was to check the hole and if it needed closing, to close it. Everything went GREAT. The hole was too small to close. It was so small that the doctor feels it will continue to close on it's own, and I couldn't be happier that he won't have something else foreign (there were going to patch it)in his body.
Here is a random picture of Bryce. I know most parents would cringe at this, but I swear they were only in for a minute--long enough to take a picture. He is a creative boy though!!!