A Birthday Experience Post

In our quest to continue to do events or experiences for birthdays, instead of gifts, Jackie and I had some difficulty coming up with an appropriate thing to do this year for Maia's second birthday.  Obviously we didn't want the same thing as last year, when we to Chicago to visit Shedd's Aquarium.  Being in December, a lot of options are limited, and those options can be limited even further by having a two year old in tow.  Considering all of these things, we thought it might be fun to visit the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.  We both had visited it when we were kids, and thought it would be good to refresh our memories on what was available, as well as something that would have fun and age appropriate activities for Maia.

So, the Saturday after Christmas, we headed down to Indianapolis for the visit.  The drive down went very well, and I think benefitted Maia by forcing her to slow down and take a good nap after all the excitement of the previous couple days and the multiple Christmas celebrations.  Upon arriving and looking outside our window, we dinosaurs "breaking into" the museum.



Maia, not missing a beat, said "Dinosaur."

"Yup, that's a dinosaur, all right."

"I want to ride it."

"...." (I'm not about to tell Maia that there is a museum that has saddles on dinosaurs... ;))

And so began our adventure with the Children's Museum.

We ventured to the playscape on the 3rd floor I believe, an area specifically designed for toddlers.  Naturally, the place was filled with toddlers, but despite the teeming mass of young vertically challenged humanity, Maia seemed interested in everything right away.  She explored water and sand, music and the science of air powered vacs, and climbed (all the way to the top) through "The Pond", an apparatus containing netting and various "leafs" for kids to climb on.  It was a day where everything about being a toddler could be embraced - the impulsiveness of being daring and trying new things, to the constant action of moving from activity to activity, with everything being just as engaging as the the prior activity.

[caption id="attachment_839" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Playing in the water[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_838" align="aligncenter" width="300"] and in the sand...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_832" align="aligncenter" width="300"] while making music too.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_833" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Climbing in the pond...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_835" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Going up and up...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_834" align="aligncenter" width="300"] All the way to the top! She was so proud of herself.[/caption]

Following all the adventures in the playscape, we decided to visit the carousel on another floor, as those are one of Maia's favorite things right now.  Maia was, again, full of joy at the experience.

[caption id="attachment_836" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Enjoying the ride with Mommy.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_837" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Soaking it all up.[/caption]

All things considered, it was a day that confirmed, for me, the decision we made for birthdays.  Making our gift a experience, from Shedd's Aquarium last year to the Indy Children's Museum this year, and to who knows what next year, makes memories for all of us that surpass, at least for me, what we could do with a traditional gift.  Those obviously have their place, but I love the fact that we do this as a tradition now in our family, and am once again thankful that this year's birthday experience for Maia proved to be just an awesome time.