Decatur Children's Museum

Last weekend, we were desperate to get out of town and see something new, so we headed south to the Decatur Children's Museum.  I have to say that the Children's Museum of Illinois is ten minutes from our house, and is fantastic, but we're pretty familiar with the place and we wanted a little adventure.

The museum reminded us all of the one in Normal.  It was maybe a bit shabbier, but hey, new toys are new toys!  Some of the familiar areas were the grocery store

the water play area and plexi-glass painting,

and all of the different "drive-y toys."

They had some new and different things to do, such as giant bubbles, a gear wall, and a skeleton who pedaled his bike as you did.  (Jacob wasn't quite big enough for the bike, but he tried!)

They also had a designated toddler area which Carter promptly escaped from.

But the highlight of the museum was the "fix-y car."  The hood stayed propped open, and kids could change the air filter, check the oil, and do all kinds of car maintenance including tire changes and license plate changes.  It was seriously awesome.  I didn't think Jacob would ever leave!

The other highlight of the trip (well, it was a highlight of mine, anyway, was getting a few other really cool pictures of the boys.

We spent about a hour and a half there, which is a long time for us, and definitely felt it was worth the trip!