How to Spend a Weekend with Kids in Green Bay: The Children's Museum

Now that my Yellowstone/Grand Teton travel series has come to an end, I thought I'd spend the next few weeks sharing a few staycations we had this past winter before I begin my spring travel series to Colonial Williamsburg.

Last February my son-in-law had to speak at a conference in Green Bay so he brought his whole family with him for a fun weekend with us.  Usually he travels alone, but the wife and kids miss him and since Green Bay in only four hours from us, it was a way he could work, and the kids can still see him in the morning/evening, and we could visit with the grandkids.   It was a win-win for everyone!

We had to find things to do in Green Bay in winter that our grand kids would enjoy, and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg, so we chose The Children's Museum of Green Bay and the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.  We also stayed in a hotel that had a great waterpark for small children.  That was truly the highlight of their weekend and they spent hours in the pool!

This week, I'm going to share all about the children's museum.  This is such a cute little museum, and my grandkids loved it.  

One of their favorite areas of the museum was "The Fire Station"!  Here they learned all about the importance of fire safety.  They could climb inside and on top of the fire truck, put on fire and police man uniforms, and slide down a fire pole!  

They loved trying on the uniforms!

Sliding down the fire pole was pretty exciting too!

At the "Backyard Experience" they got back to nature under a mighty oak tree.  Atticus loved the tree house and slide.

Alethea enjoyed the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Stand.

And Atticus learned all about Chicken Coops while Baby Lazarus (in the background) played inside a truck.

The learning objectives in the "Backyard Experience" is to:

1. To discover and count animals in a forest.
2. To learn about characteristics of an oak tree.
3. To understand animal habitats.
4. To generate an interest in nature.

Atticus spent a long time playing with the Tinker Toys in the "Under Construction" exhibit.

Even adults can learn a thing or two in a children's museum.  I was fascinated by this sign in the "Vet Clinic" that explained all the different feelings a cat's tail makes.

Grandpa and the kids spent a long time playing with this contraption.  Elisha is figuring out that if he places a ball in one hole, air pressure moves it through the tubes and pops it out another hole.

Lazarus enjoying a little lap time with Grandpa.  As usual, I'm not in any of the photos because I was the photographer. I usually try to make another family member take my photo so my grandkids know later in life, "Yes, grandmother was alive", but this day it was so hard because we had to keep our eyes on four kids all at the same time.  They were all running off in different directions instead of staying in one area together.

In the "Splash" exhibit the kids engaged in water play.  What did doesn't like playing with water?

This is a cool exhibit for a Green Bay children's museum, for the exhibit revolves around the Great Lakes.  They learn about water energy, and they can explore a lighthouse! 

The learning objectives in the "Splash" exhibit are:

1. To explore water flow, volume and cause and effect.
2. To discover the land around The Great Lakes.
3. To learn boating vocabulary.
4. To experience the importance of lighthouses.

But perhaps their favorite exhibit of all was the "Digestive System".  Boy, did they love this exhibit! The kids physically go through a body's digestive system to learn all about how the body digest food.  They begin by crawling through the mouth, then they come out the end by "pooping" in a toilet (aka a slide into a toilet bowl".  I know it sounds gross, but they loved it!  As they crawl through the digestive it makes all sorts of bodily noises like swallowing, gurgling, and yes, farting. 

At the "Imagination Station" Alethea painted a picture.  

The kids had so much fun at The Children's Museum of Green Bay.  I highly recommend it if you're ever in the area.

Before I do, I have to show you one more picture.  We went to a Mexican restaurant later that evening and they had these cute statues that the grandkids just adored.  I love this photo.  Atticus is always "posing".  He sure loves the camera and the camera loves him.  Elisha is just so busy giggling at big brother Atticus he doesn't even notice the camera, and Alethea is just smiling pretty for the camera.

 Next week I'll share our visit to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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Grandma & Me: Celebrating My Grandchildren’s Birthdays

Waaaaay back in March my children and grandchildren came to live with my husband and I during the lockdown.  They arrived the day before the first lockdown started and stayed for three months.  The main reason they did this was because they live in a small apartment in the Chicago area and both parents had to teach from home once quarantine began.  They did not have any Internet service to teach on-line, and even if they did, trying to teach in a bedroom with two loud small children crying or screaming nearby was not practical.  So, they came to my house which not only had lots of room to teach on-line without being disturbed, but also fast 5G Internet.  There were other motivations to quarantining with us too:  a large home with a large backyard is far more tolerable than a small apartment if you're not allowed to leave your home for months.  Having Grandpa and Grandma around is also less lonely than being alone for three months as well.  

We made so many memories while they were here.  It was fun to have them so long, but it was also difficult at times with so many more mouths to feed and the constant mess toddler's bring to a home.  Between spending 6 to 8 hours a day in the garden, then coming in to the house to do dishes and cook supper for six, I was starting to grow tired, so once Ashley & Jason's on-line teaching commitments ended they returned home.  They left last Saturday for their home in Illinois, but they won't be there long because Jason got a new job!  He was hired to be the principal of a Christian school in Indiana!  They have three weeks to pack up in Illinois before they move to Indiana.  We were so happy Jason got a great new job and a wage increase.  We were also happy they could finally leave the state of Illinois.  Now they are hoping that they can finally stop renting and afford a home of their own next year.  

They are moving to a suburb of the Indianapolis area.  It will only add about another two hours to our drive to see them now, so that's ok.  We don't think the longer distance will change the time we usually spend together at all. However, because we just spent three long months with them in our home, we decided we would not drive to Illinois to celebrate their birthdays and we had a small private birthday party for them before they left.

We purchased the most delicious chocolate cupcakes and I put  1 candle in Atticus' cupcake for his first birthday, and 3 candles in Alethea's cupcake for her 3rd birthday.

For each grandchild I made a handmade card.

Alethea's card was made from an old digital image I had already sitting on my desk.  I did the card in all different shades of pink because that's her favorite color!

Atticus' card was made using a vintage retired stamp set from Crafty Secrets called "Birthday Kids".

I stamped confetti on the card base then repeated the confetti design by cutting out some confetti pieces using my Cuttlebug Machine and a die.  The balloon is stamped twice, cut out, then popped up on dimensionally.  I also stamped the number "1" and the ice cream cone onto separate card stock, then cut them out and glued them to the card.

The children loved their handmade cards.  Of course Atticus wanted to peel everything off right away.

I love the smile on Alethea's face as she "reads" her card.

One of the activities Alethea and I did together while she stayed with me during lockdown was to watch the Barbie show on Netflix.  The new show has come a long way since the Barbie of my generation.  It is more diverse and less focused on material things and appearance and more focus is on good values.  For her birthday, I bought Alethea her very first Barbie doll so she would always remember all the special times we had watching the show together.

Alethea was so excited to get her doll.  She recognized Barbie immediately!

For Atticus' birthday Ashley ordered a wooden push toy from Amazon.  He absolutely loved it!

Of course Jackson had to come and see what all the excitement was about too!

Finally I will leave you with this adorable video of my grandson eating sweets for the first time.  He was so excited.  He kept jumping to try to move his chair to get to the cupcake.  He is so cute!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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