First we drove to Lava Hot Springs and spent an hour in the Portneuf Kiddie Cove. It's basically an indoor splash pad. The water is warmer than a typical swimming pool's; the deepest it gets is 1.5 feet. The girls played on the slide, in the fountains and with the other toys. Winnie would have stayed all day, but the other girls got tired out, so we packed it up and drove north to Pocatello to get some lunch.
Our post-lunch plans included going to the Museum of Clean and the Idaho Museum of Natural History. Seth was incredibly skeptical of the Museum of Clean at first, but when we got inside and saw that it was EXTREMELY kid-friendly and NOT a giant advertisement, he came around.
Don Aslett himself gave us and a few other families a tour of the museum. He was funny, he kept the crowd moving, and he was really good with the kids.
Rebekah in the hall of mirrors.
After demonstrating the puppet theater, Don showed us a melodrama using a dollar bill as a prop. The bad guy (dollar bill used as a mustache) demanded, "Pay the rent!" The damsel (dollar bill used as a bow) insisted, "I can't pay the rent!" And finally the good guy (dollar bill used as a bow tie) stepped in and said, "I'll pay the rent!" Then he asked a volunteer to come up and do the melodrama the same way he had. When several of the older kids backed out and Miriam kept insistently raising her hand, he called on her. Not only did Miri do a great job with the melodrama, but she also got to keep the dollar.
After the tour, we were turned loose to reexamine the exhibits and play.
Ana and Miri washing windows.
Seth and Winnie on Noah's ark.
Analee getting her hair sucked in on the "Vacuum me!" exhibit.
Revisiting the hall of mirrors.
Miriam the chimney sweep.
The Museum of Natural History is a smaller museum, but what it lacks in space in makes up for in the hands-on children's room.
Rebekah checking out the prehistoric sharks.
Ana asked for a picture at the swirling teeth.
Winnie enjoyed the dinosaurs but kept making a break for the door. Eventually Seth took her on a walk around the ISU campus in the stroller while I stayed and played with the bigger girls.
Our mad scientists trying to avoid a blast of air from Seth.
Miriam and the magnifiers.
To see other pictures of our exciting Thanksgiving break adventures, start here.