The Strong Museum of Play

My parents came out for a visit, and we decided to visit Rochester and the amazing Strong Museum of Play. This place is paradise for children, with a "Sesame Street" area, a miniature Wegman's grocery store, and a million other things that are all hands-on for the little ones. The butterfly room was beautiful, and they even let the children hold a butterfly while they are inside the exhibit.

At the mini-Wegman's, the children can shop for food and play the cashier role. Matt really liked pushing the button to make the conveyor belt move.



It was also "Superhero Weekend," so the boys were able to meet Spiderman, make their own capes, and play several games related to having super powers. Nolan was "No Man," since the power of "NO!" is the super power that all two-year-olds wield. As soon as he donned his cape, "No-Man" fled to demonstrate his powers to the masses.



The Sesame Street area contained several exhibits, including a taxi with a "broken" engine. Matthew was particularly enamored of the tubes and belts, while Nolan was more fond of attacking Daddy with a Big Bird puppet.



The giant museum upstairs was really interesting. Unfortunately, due to short attention spans on the part of the boys, we didn't get to see much of it. Grandad and Nolan did enjoy an area with a plasma-ray thingymajigger (trust me, that is what they're called).


The Story Adventure Land was amazing, and the boys spent quite a lot of time exploring the mock helicopter, boat, Mother Goose house, and Giant's Playroom. Grandma made both boys crowns, and the young king-superheroes ran around like crazy through this area of the museum.



After a full day at the museum, we checked into a local hotel for a "rest." The boys fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel, but the excitement of staying in a hotel made them perk up as soon as we tried to lay them down. My wonderful parents called the Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse and moved up our reservation, and we headed out for dinner.

The restaurant was amazing, and right up Matt's alley. The food was good, and the animal heads decorating the wall would light up and occasionally talk during the meal. The first time the Bison spoke, both boys watched in wonder. Nolan's eyes lit up, he watched in fascination, then proceeded to freak out. Apparently, the kid is afraid of giant disembodied bison heads that can talk. Who knew? We can add "bison" to his list of strange fears, which includes balloons and plants.

Our weekend of fun wasn't over yet- stay tuned for our trip to Brown's Berry Patch!