Cleveland Cousins

While in Cleveland, Sharon hosted a drop-in at Grandma & Grandpa's, and we FINALLY got to meet all (most) of the Cleveland Cousins. A great night!

The Cleveland Botanical Gardens

Confession: I am a sucker for gingerbread house contests.

I don't think that was the selling point for getting us to the Botanical Gardens during our visit... despite it being December... and despite a snow storm beginning to gear-up... and despite being nearly museum'd out.

If I remember correctly, someone said there was a really cool train at the Gardens, and Cora would love it.

Nevertheless, we did the Botanical Gardens in December.

Cora loved these little old lady figureines. They were all set-up like at a circus or an amusement park. I am sure they are collectibles - about 6 inches tall, dressed in red and green like the "When I'm an Old Lady" poem with a bit of elf flair to them... She loved them so much I came close to buying her one as a souvenier from our trip!

She was pointing out all of the pieces and telling me what they were doing...
When she looked up and realized Daddy was on the other side of the display taking our picture.
She didn't miss a beat. She kept the same tone of voice...
"There's one... going in circles... and that one's going UP!...
And that one's in a chair... and that one's swinging... and that's... Daddy... What's Daddy doing?"

This was the house that caused Cora to delcare: "I made one of those at Papaw's House!"
Granted, this was the least grand of the displays, so maybe this is what she needed to make the connection?

Quinn loved it!

The Messals.
Christmas, 2012.

Cleveland's Museum of Natural History

Alligator alligator... Chomp! Or "Chomp-It", as Cora likes to say.

Wowser!?! What is that, Mom?

In a museum full of bones and stuffed animals (of the wildlife variety), there was one hallway with one window overlooking a peaceful arboretum. Cora didn't want to walk away.

Maybe all it takes to entertain my little South Carolinian is a bit of snow?

Quinn was less than impressed.

There was a visiting whale exhibit.

They did a great job making the experience memorable.

On the way in was a screen, playing lifesize whale video. THIS impressed Quinn. I believe she would have sat there, jaw-dropped, for hours.

A lifesize whale heart, made into a cubby hold for kids.

Cora loved it! While inside, she made a new friend named Nora.

Did I mention that I felt like we were playing a game of germ roulette?

Whale bones.

Cora's first attempt at eating a hot dog in bun.

Another picture of bundled girls.

A reminder of how much we hate cold weather.

Cleveland Children's Museum

Our second adventure in Cleveland was to the Children's Museum.

"Wake up, Sissy!!! Wake up, Quinny-poo!"
These two were obviously feeling better.

Cleveland Children's Museum.

December 2012.

Doesn't she look like a chauffeur in this hat?

The Cleveland Kid's Museum was fun.  

Playing Doctor. I didn't get any pictures, but after visiting an Urgent Care Center the day before, Cora was a huge fan of the medical section of the Kid's Museum.

There was this huge climbing aparatus in the Kid's Museum. I thought Cora was too little for it - it was the type of place where Landon and I could not have gotten to her if we tried. However, she tackled it pretty well.

I didn't get a picture at her highest point, but she actually made it two levels beyond where she was here. I think she would have kept going over the top, but a bigger kid almost kicked her as he climbed past, and she got a little freaked out. I was very impressed by her determination. On ever new level she would stand up, push her hair back out of her face (a move Cora makes when she is determined), and assess the situation.

Quinn went from place to place happy to find a new way to pull-up.

 There was a sand exhibit. For land-locked Cleveland babies, I can see why this is appealing. We tried to rush our little "South-Carolinian-going-to-daycare-on-an-island-with-sand-as-my-playground" girl past this exhibit. Fail. She had to try it. It didn't take her long to realize that sand is sand is sand is sand. In fact, it took her just long enough to be covered in sand.

Upsides of trying out the Cleveland Sand Pit:
1. They had paint brushes to clean the sand off of the kids. That's a trick we hadn't thought of, so now all of our old paint brushes are going into a cargo pocket of the QX.
2. Quinn thoroughly enjoyed this place to pull-up and observe.

Visiting the Rainforest

We made Cleveland into a mini-vacation. We spent the evenings with family, but spent the daytimes hitting the Cleveland museums. It's a good thing we put the kids on antibiotics the first day... We were practically playing a game of germ-roulette. First stop - The Rainforest at the Cleveland Zoo. When we were in Cleveland last summer, we took Cora to the Zoo (her first zoo visit ever), but didn't realize there was a huge indoor exhibit for winter. Huge success.

There is a huge waterfall in the entrance.

Quinn was suspicious.

The frog exhibits were a huge hit with Cora. The tiny objects were a little too small to capture Quinn's attention, but Cora thought the frogs were super cool.

This past summer, we had a lot of frogs out front at our house.

When Cora sees one, she digs deep for her best deep voice, and lets a big "RIBBIT" escape. It's so funny.

Sea Turtles!

Sloths.

The African Anteater was a huge hit.

Okay Okay Okay...

Cora and Quinn could have cared less. He was pretty unexcited.

But neither Landon or I could ever remember seeing one, so we thought it was really cool.

Somebody loved the monkies!

See how unimpressed they were with being bundled?

Again, no intentions to move north of the Ohio River.

Ever.