Play all Day

Yesterday, we made a trip to the Portland Children's Museum. It's a wonderland of play. Totally fun. There was so much to do, that at first the kids were a so overwhelmed that the didn't know what to do first-- there was a huge water-play area (Jonah's absolute favorite, my absolute least), a "dig pit" with tractors and shovels to dig in piles of rubber gravel, a play hospital, a play store and cafe, a clay studio, and kazillions of other things to do and explore.

The cool thing about this place is that there are no rules, it's all pretty safe and innocuous and theres endless possibility for imaginative play. Even the one-year-old in our group got to roam and play.



After I managed to keep Jonah from soaking himself with water, I couldn't tear him away from the ambulance, and no one else was allowed to drive. Typical male.















Everyone got their faces painted and then got dressed up for a dance party on the stage.







Peter has the best disco moves I have ever seen! (Not sure if you can see it in the pic... Sorry 'bout the poor pictures, once again. Imagination, folks.)







Afterwards, we needed to find food. Mom treated us to Ken's Artisan Pizza (after driving awhile to find the place...). This is the coolest (hottest?) pizza place ever. It's a restaurant with a big wood-fired oven where they cook their pizza and bread on the 800 degree hearth. It is the best pizza I have ever had. Wow. So good I could have wept. But I didn't. Anyway... Totally awesome, and a great local beer to go with it. We split some gelato for dessert. That meal was the best part of the day. The place was packed, and people were amazed that we took seven kids in there, but they were all great!

What fun!