Sunday, March 14, 2010

Imagination Station - Toledo Ohio

While Becki was working a chocolate show in Oregon Ohio, Maggie and Dad decided to check out the newly renamed "imagination station" in downtown Toledo. Toledo.... who would have thought? It was surprisingly very nice and had a beautiful location right on the Maumee river. We look forward to coming back in the summer time (perhaps by boat?) and exploring the outdoor attractions.
The imagination station is very similar to the Ann Arbor Hands-On-Museum. Many, many, many science and learning based attractions geared toward children. Maggie probably had the most in the black right room with the walls of mirrors:

Sunday, March 07, 2010

What a Fun Weekend!

Busy, busy, busy and fun!

We started out yesterday morning by going to the Nursery School Olympics. What a great event! They had probably close to 20 different activities for toddlers and pre-schoolers. Every 'event,' like the Obstacle Course, the Marshmallow Shot-Put, the Big Wheel Race and the Pirate Tug-of-War had a special sticker to put on your sheet that listed the events (so you could be sure to do every one), and then everyone got prizes! There really wasn't any competition, and each of the activities we did were individual, not actually against anyone else. The last activity to complete was getting your medal and getting up on the podium to get your certificate. It was great for Maggie, if somewhat over-stimulating!

After the Nursery School Olympics, we headed over to MicroCenter to get a new laptop! Yay! Having a laptop will make it much easier for me to accept some computer jobs, since I'll have a reliable back-up machine, has made it easier for us (mostly Andy) to clear off my desktop and reformat, and I'll also be able to take a laptop with me to chocolate shows in different tax areas and charge the right amount for orders, since I can enter them on the spot. Very exciting! We also got the newest and best-est virus stuff, and a new ergonomic keyboard for me - it is super!!

Since we were already out and about, we then went to the mall to browse a bit and get some spring work clothes for Andy. Maggie was bribed to good behavior by knowings she'd get to play in the kids' area once we were done with mommy and daddy's stuff. She's having such a good time playing with other kids lately!

Today she got to play in another mall play area while mommy went to her Cakes for the Queen of Heaven class, then we all enjoyed a walk in the nearly 50 degree evening before dinner. We're winding it all up with two fixed up computers, a bit of progress on cleaning up the office, and some chillin time for mommy and daddy, since Maggie went right to bed tonight (as opposed to the last few nights...ahh, life with a toddler...).

Hope you had a super weekend as well!

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Winter Fun!

As much as I gripe about the cold and snow, I had to put up one of my favorite winter pictures. Maggie asks a few times a week to go out and sled or make a 'snowman' (her definition is pretty liberal - she just wants to hold a piece of snow). Unfortunately, other than Maggie's cuteness, none of these activities hold any appeal for me. Luckily her daddy feels the opposite. He loves the cold and snow, and all the fun activities they can do outside. On Monday he hurried home from work to get back while there was still a bit of daylight so he could build a wonderful snowman with his favorite helper. We made sure to get some pictures of the snowman, including its hair, arms and face. Maggie still asks about him every time we come home, "Is that my snowman?" Why yes, Maggie, it is.