Lego Palooza

For our St. Patrick's day fun this year we went to the Lego Palooza party that our children's museum in Lansing was having.  I was really surprised with how many Lego exhibits the museum had set up (since our children's museum is on the smaller side).  The boys were in heaven!

Downstairs the museum had tons of different types of structure building tools.  They had a table with thousands of little legos that Thomas loved.  They got to scoop up a container full of legos and build with them.  Carter and I hung out mostly at the Duplo table, that had tons of duplo blocks to build with.

Both Carter and Thomas participated in the Lego build challenge.  The kids drew out of a bowl what to build.  Thomas built a boat and Carter built a house.  After they finished they each got to pick out a little lego man for their prize.

I was so proud of Carter's little house/castle and so was he!

We had to take a lunch break and walked to a Grand Traverse Pie Co in downtown for lunch.  I must admit, after living here for 1 1/2 years, I have never really walked through downtown Lansing.  It was a nice day and fun to walk along the river (even though it looked pretty yucky).

After lunch, Thomas found one of his friends from church.  They did the Marble Maze challenge together. They had to create a maze on an inclined piece of wood that would slow the marble down.  The object was to try to get the slowest time for the maze.  It was fun to see what they came up with (with a little help from their Dads of course).

The last thing we did was the Lego Robotics challenge.  Ryan and Thomas made a robot lego car.  Carter and I programed the legos motors on the computer to do some cool things.

By the end of the day, the kids were on a Lego overload!

Thomas Turns 5!

I remember when Ryan and I were looking at going back to school and we figured out that Thomas would be 5 when Ryan graduated.  That seemed so far away for us at the time.  I can't believe that he is now 5!

Thomas had such a great birthday.  We started the weekend off by picking up Grandma from the airport.  We were so happy that my Mom could fly in to spend the weekend with us and celebrate Thomas' birthday.  So here is how his actual birthday went down:

Thomas' party started at 10:30.  He has been talking about having a space themed birthday since last Summer.  We decided it would be appropriate to have his party at the Impression 5 science center.  It worked out perfectly!  Ryan hung huge planets from the ceiling and we set up different space themed stations in our party room.

Rocket Building 101

The kids got to make their own rockets by coloring, putting stickers, and assembling their rockets.  I used Sobe bottles and cut slits on the sides to make a place for the foil wrapped card board wings to slip in.  I then paper maiched the bottles so that they could color and decorate them.  I also made cones with cereal boxes and and covered them with foil to make the nose of the rocket.  This was definitely my recycle project!  The kids were very proud of their creations!

Astronaut Suit Fitting:

 

The kids got to try on Thomas' space suit and take a picture.  I used a black plastic table cloth and planet stickers to make it look like an outer space picture.

Flight Training:

I bought a couple of rockets (the ones in Thomas' right hand) and had them practice shooting them.  They worked out great!  Ryan started up a little contest with who could shoot them the farthest.  

Light Workshop:

The museum does a workshop with the kids as part of the party package.  Thomas picked to do a light workshop.  They talked about what colors are in white light and rainbows etc...  They each got a pair of glasses that distorted the light so they could see all the colors.  It was pretty cool.  

Fueling Station:

We had pizza planets, a veggie galaxy tray, fruit rockets, and of course freeze dried strawberries and ice cream!  It was an astronaut's lunch!

Cake Time:

Thomas drew a picture of the solar system and I had the bakery photo copy it onto icing sheets for his cake.  He was so proud of it!

Make a Wish!

Piñata Time:

More Pictures of the Party:

Me and my Mom!

Ryan and Carter with Mimi and Papa V.  We were so happy that they came up for the party!

Mimi and Grandma.

Thomas and Daddy.

We had to get a picture of all the girls!

After the party, we came back to our house with Mimi, Papa V, and Grandma.  Thomas got to open up presents from Mimi, Papa V, Grandma, and his Aunts!  Thomas had fun spending the day playing with his new toys!  

Later that night, we went out to eat at McGrath's it was so yummy!  Thomas loved his fish!

Of course, we came home and had more birthday cake!  I made him a rocket ship cake this year from the same wilton kit that I made Carter's train last year.

What a day!