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Grand Day Out

We took full advantage of the lovely sunny day yesterday and went on a family outing to the Seattle Center.

Ane and Tad at the Seattle Center

Our main objective was to go to the Children’s Museum and see the Curious George exhibit that they have running until mid-May. Since the kids are both fans of Curious George, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss this. The Webmaster and I didn’t tell them where we were going, and we finally had to point out the banner over the door to the museum.

To say that they enjoyed themselves is an understatement.

Ane is ready for take-off!

The rocket was a huge hit with both kids.

Tad says hi from space

There were several stations all around the exhibit room, based off of elements of the TV show. There was a child-size replica of George’s apartment building, the market, the barn out in the country, and other fun spots. The Webmaster and I particularly enjoyed the center exhibit, which told the story of the creation of Curious George and history of H.A. and Margret Rey, the husband and wife author/illustrator team.

The Story of Curious George

While the Webmaster and I took turns reading the walls in this spot, we kept an eye on the kids as they tried out everything in the room.

Tad learns to cheat at golf

It was a very fun exhibit and great for kids their age who love the George stories – and the TV show.

Ane, Curious George, and Tad

It’s been a few years since I brought the kids to the museum, and they’ve improved several of the other exhibits. (Though I still think The Magic House outstrips the Children’s Museum by far.) For example, the market area is a lot bigger and better now.

Ane goes shopping

Tad got to practice his newly acquired cart skills at the market.

Tad goes for the produce

We also explored the international cities area, which had a Japan area inspired by Seattle’s sister-city Kobe.

Ane and Tad have a sushi lunch

Ane commandeered a sushi shop and used the fake sushi to fix Tad and herself some “lunch” and took it over to the kid-sized Japanese house to “eat” it.

How's your lunch?

Ane thought the house was interesting, and I enjoyed looking at all the authentic touches – and Japanese appliances.

Ane poses in the living room

After a good couple of hours, we went up into the Center House and ate lunch, then walked over to the Space Needle. No, we did not go up. It’s so prohibitively expensive that nowadays, only tourists can afford to go up top. I recently read Ane the story of The Wheedle on the Needle (I have an original story copy in hardback) and she was entranced by it. Her thrill was only heightened after going to Nana and Papa’s two weekends ago – on our way home that night, we drove north on I-5 and came through downtown Seattle, and Ane could see the red light blinking on top of the Needle, which, according to the story, is the Wheedle’s nose.

Ane was only mildly disappointed to not see the Wheedle for herself yesterday, but she contented herself with waving at the top of the Needle from the bottom.

We then went back into the museum to have some more fun (and to get our money’s worth out of admission), and then walked around the Center a little bit before heading for home. The Webmaster and I had our first date at the Seattle Center in April 1999 – we’re coming up on our ten year anniversary of that first date. We’re not sure if we’ll make it this year for the Cherry Blossom Festival (which was the occasion/excuse for said first date), so we made a point of stopping by the pagoda and reminiscing – with our crazy children running circles around us.

It was a grand day out.

2 Responses to “Grand Day Out”

  1. Ressis
    April 7th, 2009 06:14
    1

    Glad you had fun.

  2. Aunt Lynda
    April 7th, 2009 08:40
    2

    Thanks for the vicarious tour of Seattle Center. I haven’s been there since I stopped going to the opera.

    The kids look like they are having fun, all right.
    ~Lynda