I LOVE THE CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER.
I always have. As a kid I loved the rotating exhibits (especially anything about Egypt or dinosaurs), as an early teen I loved to go through the fake cave with my boyfriend and pretend to be afraid of the dark so we could hold hands, in college I loved the Omnimax and the art deco architecture and the sheer GRANDEUR of the building. And now, as a mother, I have about a thousand new reasons to love it that can be summed up in one phrase: the Duke Energy Children's Museum.
I took Nora there this afternoon on a BOGO admission coupon, and upgraded to the deluxe annual membership (parking included!) before we left. It was that good. It was better than that good. The CM takes up over half of the downstairs level, and it's just plain brilliant. One quadrant is this kinetic learning center, where they have this room FULL of balls and machines you can use to shoot them across the room, pull them up to the ceiling with a pulley system, dump them from said ceiling, throw them into hoops like basketballs, watch them go up a tube with suction, spit them out the back of a bike, and on and on.
There's a massive jungle gym designed to look like a series of tree houses that we didn't go on, and another giant water works section, where they equip you with ponchos and let you go to town in this raised water ZONE with waterfalls and shooting water and squirt guns and paddles and channels. And then another section is this collection of kid sized rooms- a diner, a grocery store, a bedroom, a kitchen, a gas station, a doctor's office, and some others we didn't make it to because there just wasn't time.
What else? A train station with movable pieces, a map with magnetic planes and cars and boats, a story time area, fake animal exhibits, a fresh water and saltwater fish tank (which is where she took the closest thing to a break).
And then the place we spent most of the time, the designated area for kids under four. WITH AN ATTENDANT CHECKING AT THE GATE. If you've ever taken a toddler to a McDonald's or Chick fil A play zone and had to leave because some 5'3 kid has stepped on your child's hand a third time even though the sign says no one allowed over the height of 4 feet, you understand why this made me so happy. We walked in, and I honestly thought I'd died and gone to baby heaven. It had: sandbox, story time tree, magnetic chalkboard, books, a grocery store with sorting station (can you put the apple with the other fruits? can you put the can with the other cans?), a climb on bus, a slide with stairs and a climbing rope, this magnetic fishing zone with felt fish with magnets on their noses that you catch with a fishing rod that has a magnet where the bait goes, chairs for the moms, another train track, a music room with drums and a little xylophone, toy strollers and baby dolls to push around, and a nursing room for mom's privacy.
In short, we're going back tomorrow, this time bringing Gray, because there were several kids his age there that were having a great time too. I no longer dread snowy/frigid/rainy/hundred plus degree days. At least not until my annual pass runs out.
I wish I'd tried to capture more of the PLACE in my pictures, instead of just focusing on Nora. I'll bring my camera back tomorrow and try to get some shots that can express the fantastic nature of the museum.
