children's discovery museum

when we were in rancho mirage, my mom and i enjoyed taking the boys to the 

children's discovery museum.

all around the area, i was struck by the prevalence of modern architecture 

and the minimalist beauty of desert landscaping.

the whole place was sparse on friday morning.  we had nearly every exhibit to ourselves the entire time.

ezra started right away interacting with this maze of sorts where you attach yourself with a climbing rope.  before coming in, the lady at the desk was sure to tell him to touch everything!   

the lighting was beautiful so i enjoyed snapping away while my mom watched indy crawl all around.

the idea is to hoist yourself up by pulling on the rope - 

maybe in another year he could do it without my help.

both boys enjoyed the magnetic wall.  

there were kapla blocks - so sorry ours were lost in the mail from miami - thinking santa must deliver.

these held his attention for quite some time as well.  from the very beginning, this museum was geared toward a boy's how do things work kinda mind.  we didn't get through the whole place because the first room had so much to tinker with.

but social butterfly indy did find a little girl though to wander off to.  

he went over all on his own and sat right by her.

this brought ezra back to the maze for one more turn.

isn't this such a cool looking, clean little place?  if we move here, we will definitely be back.

ezra made his own short movies

and built a ping pong ball tunnel shoot (once i took indy the destroyer away).

i'm so glad he never seems to mind when i move him around from place to place here or there.

we had a look at the pretend vet's office

while ezra painted an old bug.

indy was sucking on a stethoscope

and then ezra came to play.

this was very serious business for him.

i love watching this kind of role playing.  we have a large dress up collection at home.  i think we need to add a vet ensemble to the bag.  ezra's been asking me lately what he can be when he grows up.  i suggested a vet after looking again at these pictures with him and he said, "what about a jedi?"

indy was happy to play puppy.

we actually looked for a bone like this for him at target to no avail (probably a good thing).

even i had a little weaving fun on this huge loom before leaving the museum.