No one can save you from yourself

Niko was fooling around on the bed the other day when he rolled right off, banged into the wall, and hit the floor hard. No harm done, he laughed and scrambled back onto the bed. I called him a doofus, which delighted him, and he spent several minutes fake rolling off the bed and demanding that I save him. I generally oblige him, and rolled him back onto the bed each time.

Later on, we were playing and cuddling in the bed before starting the rest of our bed time ritual (brush teeth, wash face, medication, jammies on, 2 stories from a book, 1 story “from my head,” 1 song, cuddles, kiss and hug, that’s it) (Nesko’s bedtime ritual involves sleeping with him, sucker) when he started pretending to fall out of bed again.

“Save me mama!” he called. “Saaaave me! Mama, save me from being a doofus!”

“Aw, baby boy,” I said. “Nobody can save you from being a doofus. You can only save yourself.”

He promptly fell out of bed.

Mirrored from Now Showing!.

Short Museum of Science and Industry Trip

We have a membership to the Museum of Science and Industry. We have a family membership which includes OMGFREEPARKING. That’s $20 per trip saved, right there. If you are ever looking for a biggish gift for nerds and/or people with kids seriously consider a family membership to a museum or zoo near them. It’s well worth the money, although it can be a hefty initial investment, and I can guarantee you that they will think of you every single time they visit that museum or zoo. Trina, I love you SO MUCH, thanks for helping us stretch Niko’s brain.

Back when Nesko worked at his old job, he had Mondays off, which is pretty great for visiting museums. Especially when school is in session. Nobody’s there! He and Niko went to MSI a few weeks ago on a Monday and there were so few people that there were no lines and they got a special private tour of the Zephyr. With that in mind, I emailed a friend of mine and asked if he wanted to drag his kid out with us to MSI on a beautiful Friday.

He did! We made plans to go early in the morning, as he had a family thing to do that evening.

Morning was, of course, a scramble to get ready. I pulled a shirt out of Niko’s closet for him, one with buttons, and he was surprised that I’d pick so fancy a shirt. It’s not like we were going to church! I told him that sometimes it’s just fun to look nice and he agreed that he likes to be pretty and said that he hoped Beka likes his pretty shirt. While he was getting dressed, and I had soaking wet uncombed ratty hair, Elliot’s voice drifted in through the window. HE WAS EARLY. Possibly the ONLY of my friends/family who is punctual/early. WHAT. This is not what I was expecting! PUNCTUALITY? I hauled down Niko’s carseat and mentioned to him that he and Beka would be sitting next to each other in the back seat, which really excited him because THAT meant he and Beka could HOLD HANDS and he couldn’t wait to HOLD HER HAND in the backseat. (SPOILER: they didn’t hold hands in the car.)

Elliot hooked up the carseat in his glorious and enormous car that is stocked with books and toys like some kind of living room on wheels, and I scrambled to pack some snacks, and off we went! Niko only got a LITTLE bit carsick, sneezebarfing on his shirt and thigh. Once on our way, Elliot mentioned that this was a free day for MSI so there would probably be a lot of field trips there.

FUCK!

He was right.

He is usually right.

The museum was pretty busy and Niko was a little out of it from his rocky car adventure. We looked at the Zephyr a bit, looked at baby chicks, visited the play area that sneakily teaches physics lessons in the guise of chucking balls into water and building gears that move a hammer to strike a bell, and then took a break for a snack. Niko perked up considerably and we talked about what we’d do next.

Sadly, Elliot et al had a prior engagement that evening. We knew from the start that it would not be a LONG museum visit, but time was passing by and we decided to skip the (probably packed) ice cream parlor on premises to get ice cream someplace else.

The trip to get ice cream was a success in that nobody barfed. Yay! We stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins where Niko elected to get a donut instead of ice cream, and I got a massive iced coffee because SOMEBODY drank all the iced coffee in the fridge (that somebody may or may not have been me) (it was totally me) and picked up birthday crullers for a friend of ours. Niko and Beka charmed everyone at the DD/BR and had a mini dance party and Beka may or may not have proposed marriage to Niko.

We arrived at the museum at 10:30, left around 12:30 and got home around 2:00-ish.

2 hours ABSOLUTELY is not enough time to explore the museum unless you are spending it all in one area (for instance, only exploring the Zephyr, or other trains, or the baby chicks/DNA, or the history of bicycles exhibit, etc), but it worked well for us since both our families are used to MSI and pretty familiar with it. We hit some favorite stuff and bailed when kids started getting cranky/hungry. I’m far more likely to head out there with the parking being free, as there’s less pressure to get my money’s worth out of parking, which means I’m more likely to head to the museum period.

We have plans to get a membership to the Field Museum, so I’m really looking forward to that as well.

Elliot and Beka are free Tuesdays and Fridays so look forward to more exciting adventures from the four of us.

I have no awesome photos to post of this trip because my camera is absolute ASS and every single photo was blurry and dark. “That’s what burst mode is far!” Elliot helpfully advised. IT IS TO LAUGH. My camera doesn’t have burst mode. My camera is shit. How am I supposed to become a well known super rich blogger who lands a lucrative book contract and retires to live on my own private island without a super expensive camera? I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

IN TOTALLY OTHER NEWS, we were supposed to get letters this week saying which preschool accepted our kids. Neither Elliot nor I have gotten these letters yet, apparently they haven’t been sent out. Leah, I know you’re laughing at my pain. Knock it off. Still no idea where Niko will be going to school this fall. Or, really, if.

Mirrored from Now Showing!.