It's all about the good life: My Love-Hate Relationship with Children's Museums

So the last couple of days at our house have been focused on play! Yeah! I adore seeing friends, and I also adore the quiet rest of time spent at home in the presence of familiar. There is something so freeing about the gift of time without any restraints, any requirements, or anything put in front of us to "do something with." This idea sits on a high pedestal in my mind as something of importance to always strive for...to be faithful to as much as possible, especially for my little ones. Friends of ours have a family motto...a single word that they have chosen to be more important than all others. Theirs is "freedom," which fits me but I couldn't copy them:) so I searched for a different word. I found that interesting, and for me that word is "faithful." I strive to be faithful to what I believe is important, what I believe to be my purpose, what I believe to be the reason I am here.

So today when I was at the new Children's Museum to meet friends of ours, I began to wonder if I was living my motto. Now, not to take anything away from the Children's Museum...it is beautiful and wonderful and creative, and I was amazed by the creative effort that went into the remodeling of it. But, it was packed full of people, noisy, and there were stations everywhere already set up for the children, which I must say I really enjoyed myself. But, again a "but," my children were showing signs of being fearful of all the people much of the time, Todd and I were worn out from searching for them at all times, and we were inside for hours on a beautiful day. And, my kids never got to explore to find something on their own or make up their own play/game the way they do at home or they way they do with friends when they play. So, was this a day well-spent for my family? Something to ponder for the future...maybe I'm just looking for something to argue about again. Afterall, I did go on a slightly ridiculous rampage about $10 parking for the Badger game today.

All of that said, now I give the pictures from the events of our last couple of days...