strong museum. and strong hospital.

during most extended batavia trips, we always make an attempt to get to the strong museum of play. this time was no exception. this time, we are members of the winston-salem childrens museum, so we got in for free. and since we were practically next door, we headed over to the hospital to see uncle ray for a bit.

first, we checked out the salt water tanks, which is normally a bust, but since my kids have discovered nemo, it was a super hit.

when you first walk in, there’s a sesame street section, complete with a replica of the front porch of 123 sesame street. we usually manage to get our picture there, but everytime we passed it, there were other like minded families. anna loved seeing real life big bird and bert and ernie, even if they didn’t move or do anything.

then, we spied the wegmans store. it’s fully stocked with every possible play food.
example. meat case.

we made our way through, selecting our five allotted items and hit the checkout, where another random toddler hoarded our items and my kids couldn’t get a chance on the cash register. they didn’t seem to mind as much as i did, so i got over it.

next up was the train section. we rode a little mini train ride. fun.

and then my mom and i took a break, while the kids played with the big thomas the train setup.

anna had a tea party with a bear.

isaac scaled the side of a building.

we went into the (exceptionally warm and humid) butterfly garden.

anna and gramma liked the butterflies. isaac was scared. 🙂

we hit the merry-go-round on the way out.

and had some bill gray’s diner fare, before heading off to the hospital to see uncle ray.

at the hospital, we sat in a tiny waiting room about the size of a closet. the kids were angels while we waited for the doc to get done with him. then, we took them in one at a time to see uncle ray. they were a little traumatized, i think, to see him like that. we said goodbye. we hugged aunt eleanor. and then we made the journey to batavia. and no one napped. of course.