New Discoveries at Discovery Childrens Museum

Living in the city of Sin is interesting. While this is definitely an adult playground, there are many wonderful things to enjoy with your children and as a family. One of our favorite places in the city is the childrens museum. Once named Lied Childrens Museum and located on Las Vegas Blvd, the new Discovery Childrens Museum has moved locations.

The museum is now located near a fun little area near downtown Las Vegas, in the same corner of The Smith Center for performing arts,

Just across the way from Symphony Park,

and a quick walk from The Cleveland Center and World Market


**above images courtesy of Google

The museum entrance is grander, the parking structure is bigger (free parking as of right now for all visitors), and the museum is fresh, new, and humongous. What was once a two story building that shared a space with a library, is now a THREE story space with more windows, a smarter design and more accessible for all ages.
Our group that visited had 5 children, two who are 2.5 months, a 4 year old, a 6 year old, and a 10 year old. Admission is $12.00 for ages 1-99. Ages 1 & under, and 100 and over, are free =)
We visited the museum on a Wednesday, and it was 3 days after the museum's opening. There were dividers at the admission counter, probably in anticipation of the large crowds. We walked right up to the counter, paid, got our hands stamped, and immediately were greeted with things to explore and discover.
Plan to spend a good amount of your day there, as the $12.00 is definitely worth it. Among the many features are

- baby/toddler only area
- dress up area complete with a stage and puppet shows
- water works area was a big hit. Children do get wet, but the museum provides smocks to help with the dampness
- a climbing structure with slides, climbers, and displays within the structure. The structure starts on level 1 and ends at level 3
- a science station with projects, exhibits, activities, and live demonstrations put on by museum employees
- an art station with exhibits and take home projects
- an eco city that is completely interactive and includes a play airport, auto shop, Jamba Juice restaurant, grocery store, bank, construction zone, and pet clinic.
- restrooms on every floor
- a store with souvenirs and toys on the bottom floor
- lots of wide walkways and benches

There are helpful and friendly employees at every stop, every activity is interactive, fun and educational. I had as much fun as the kids did. We will definitely be back, and plan to stay for even longer than the 3 hours we spent there.
Visit the museum website to get directions, museum hours, etc.

Here are a few photos of us enjoying the museum.

February flew by

February always flies by. With it being a short month, and with the Holidays over for awhile, it's a recovery period. Usually. This February, we were busy settling into our new home. We received the keys on February 1st, and I had not stopped packing, cleaning, packing, cleaning, and arranging. Baseball went from busy to busier, and football season has started.

Here is some of our February in photos:

A bottle of wine and a very lovely note, from the owners of the home that we moved into. They are a wonderful family as well as dear friends of ours. We are thankful that they chose us to care for their home.

I discovered Bakerella's Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip cookies, and decided to give it a try.

Saying they were a success would probably be an understatement. Since then, I have made quite a few more batches, some even with a Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint in place of an Oreo. February also meant Girl Scout Cookies!!! =)

Project mania. I had to! New homes just scream to be decorated.
Mod Podge and scrapbook paper give new life to a hand me down Ikea chest of drawers, plus matching pennant banner

The dining room set also needed a change. The color of the new dining room is light, so I thought darker furniture would stand our more.
We bought this dining set off Craigslist 7 years ago for an absolute steal. It was brand new and it even had plastic wrapping on the chair cushions. It's solid wood and solidly built, and I really did not want to have to purchase a new set, so I commissioned husband to give it a facelift.

**A friend of mine has an amazingly awesome vinyl machine, hence my massive vinyl decal. He ships to anywhere! =)
Valentine's Day. Tradition is to serve up a meal for my family every year. The kids enjoy this tradition, which is usually some kind of pasta, and sparkling grape or apple cider in wine glasses.

It was Freckles' first Valentine's Day school party. I volunteer in his class once a week and on special occasions. They all had fun trading Valentine cards and snacking on goodies.

Husband and I don't go all out for Valentine's Day, but I am thankful that he always thinks of me- chocolate, a card, Safe Haven tickets. We also had our one date night for the month- Papa Roach and Stone Sour concert at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel

Lots of arranging of the new house.

Lots of baseball tournaments in February for Bambino

Nevada reading week for the kiddos at school. This means extra reading time every night, fun reading contests and exercises at school, celebrating Dr Seuss, and having dress up days at school.

A few firsts: Freckles first time catching the bus to school, and DramaTween getting her first pair of glasses

March seems to be flying by as fast as February has. Hoping everyone is having a happy and healthy 2013 so far.

Happy 6th Birthday, Freckles!

My youngest kiddo freckles is 6 years old as of January 22nd! Time absolutely flies. The night before his birthday, I went through photos of the day he was born, when he was a baby, and then when he was a toddler. It's all so bittersweet at how fast children grow, I feel infinitely grateful to have watched all that he has learned, discovered and experienced so far. He is a laid back, scratchy voiced freckle faced comedian. He has his own style, his own way of doing everything, and a great big heart that shows how kind and gentle he is. Happy Birthday, Freckles!

Birthday cupcakes chosen for his classmates. This was the first time he has been in school on a birthday, and he was SO excited about sharing a sweet treat with his friends

Before I realized that I was only able to bring store bought goodies to his school, I had baked 2 dozen cupcakes. So, we've been eating them and giving them to people who have stopped by our house (cousins, Aunts).

I had also baked a cake for his birthday night. He has always requested a specific cake the past few years. This year he wanted 'a Cars cake (again) with chocolate cake, and Chips Ahoy cookies and NO grass because they were in the desert in the movie'.

"I'm SIX today!"

My boys never express wanting a birthday party. We've always given them the decision to decide what they want to do to celebrate. DramaTween always chooses a pool party/backyard party. My boys always just want to do something with the family. The past two years, Freckles has wanted to go bowling. Since his birthday was on a Tuesday, we expected to take him bowling, grab some pizza, and head home since it was a school night. When we got there, my MIL had 'pulled strings' and their host at the casino had set up a party-with free bowling, pizza and drinks! Jake's favorite part about the whole thing? He got a big bunch of balloons attached to a bowling pin, and he was SO excited about keeping the bowling pin.

Freckles, DramaTween and Bambino bowled many games with their two Aunts, and more family and friends had a fun time watching them and cheering them on.
Freckles is into WWE right now. We gave him gifts a few days before his birthday and told him that he wasn't going to have anything to open on his birthday. He graciously said thank you. Little did he know, the WWE Monday Night Raw event that he thought was sold out, was his last birthday surprise. He's been counting down the days to January 28th! His friend is going as well, and even made signs for both of them to take. They're both so excited, and so are the Dads that are taking the boys.

Happy Birthday, dude! We love you more than all the sand in the land...

Jacob Parker Makoa, 6 years old. 80 lbs, 50 inches tall as of January 28th, 2013.