My Mom wanted to gift my sister and our kiddos “an experience” this year for Christmas.  You know, something less tangible but more memorable.  Those are totally gifts that I love to cash in on, because it usually means that I get to do something super fun.  

When my brother, sister and I were younger (MUCH younger….like 20+ years ago) our parents took us to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.  And my Momma has been talking about it ever since then.  It’s the largest Children’s Museum in the nation and is awesome.  It really is.

Louis was incredibly excited before we even got there.  But once in the door, he was in high heaven.  I mean, right off the bat there was a Darth Vader Hot Wheels car AND a giant Transformers Bumblebee.  Before we even got into the actual museum part.  What more could a 5-year old ask for?

The first thing we did was race down the chocolate slides.  Louis will admit that I beat him down it, but he went the furthest.  So he’s calling it a tie.  Apparently Delilah and Nana aren’t as competitive and they had no arguments over who won.

There is an entire room for Pirates and Princesses.  The kids got to walk the plank, dress up in costumes, sit in royal chairs, fight dragons and steer pirate ships.

There was also an entire room dedicated to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Louis loved every second in there.  He got to go through an obstacle course and test out his ninja skills, as well as just be surrounded by TMNT culture.  And I even impressed my Mom with my knowledge about the heroes in a half shell, as I took a couple of quizzes that were in there.  Too bad my random bank of information about pop culture can’t really come into much use in life.

All three kids were such troopers.  Lincoln never even made a fuss the entire time, I think he was just loving being along for the ride.  So much to take in for a little guy!

Another highlight for Louis was the dinosaur exhibit.  Louis can recite more dinosaur names than I’d ever pretend to…he gets that from Bennett for sure.  I just wish we’d had Bennett with us, because I’m sure they would have spent a ton more time amongst the dinosaurs.

Honestly, we were all getting a little hangry by the time we got to the dinosaurs, so we went through that exhibit the fastest.  I think my little paleontologist still enjoyed his time in there!

Our favorite room of all was the playscape, which is what I think of for a children’s museum more than anything.  There was a water table, climbing net, and other science based activities that were super hands on.  I couldn’t keep Louis out of the wind tunnel.  It was his absolute favorite.  

It’s a giant tube with two fans on the sides.  And the kids just took these tulle-like handkerchiefs and sent them flying in the air from the fans.  Louis had this down to an art and could get his to fly around and around and around the tunnel.  A giant smile was plastered on his face the whole time and he was so in his element.

I’m so happy that we got a chance to make this trip happen.  My Momma is awesome for taking us on this adventure with our three sweet babies.

And seriously…are there three more beautiful children out there in this world?  Kuddos to this trio for being such troopers all weekend long.  No crying, whining, or fussing came from them at all.  They were exhausted at moments and still held it together and gave us such a great family trip.