I Suck At The Children's Museum

for my niece and nephew's birthday, karen and i usually take them out for some type of activity rather than get them a gift. i'm sure eventually, my niece and nephew will want to receive a gift instead of hanging out with their auntie and uncle mike. but for now, they will have to hang out with us.

this year, my nephew (pj) turned seven. so for his birthday, he wanted to go to the children's museum. now, i suck at the children's museum. i have not been to the children's museum in quite some time. from what my mother told me, i used to go to the children's museum a lot when i was young.

the last time i was in the children's museum was when i briefly worked at a company located above the children's museum shortly after the "dot bomb" days. i had simply cut through the museum to get to work. i didn't last long at that company above the children's museum (two weeks maybe) because another position had opened up elsewhere in downtown boston which provided more opportunities. in addition to the opportunities, i got to strengthen my relationships with my friends (kelley, aimee, bill and hot amy) during the five plus years i ended up working at that downtown boston company. so it was definitely worth it.

anyway, before going to the children's museum, pj wanted to have lunch first. his pick for lunch... mcdonald's. karen and i have not gone to a mcdonald's since... my friend (pam) had a christening for her daughter at the end of april. it was also the day that my other friend (hot amy) got to test drive a prius... and also the day pam's brother-in-law basically asked "are we done yet?" on the altar of the christening. i remember the day well because my stomach did not feel so great shortly after consuming the mcdonald's meal.

similarly, after my meal with pj... my stomach did not feel that great. but unlike the christening, the feeling of nausea went away... probably because i chose to eat a chicken sandwich this time as opposed to a burger the last time.

so from there, the three of us headed into town to visit the children's museum.

(the video below is of pj playing with a "power launcher".)


i must say... the children's museum is totally different from what i remember. the place is huge. as well, i would say the children's museum is more like an organized playground as opposed to a museum. kids are running around left and right playing with things. i'm not sure they are interested in reading some of the things that are written to help them learn about things. but, it was all good.

with all the children running around and having fun, i had a brief moment where i had thought about my son (braden) and how nice it would have been to be able to bring him there. i naturally resisted the urge to break down and cry.

i think pj had a good time which is really what matters since it was for his birthday. the three of us ending up spending about three hours at the children's museum. we went to every room on every floor. some rooms we had revisited. for anyone curious, pj said he liked the "water" room the best. the "water" room is basically a room where kids can play with... water.

anyway, happy birthday again pj. i hope you had a great time.