The Week of the Family

Well, today was the start of The Week of the Family in Tampa Bay. The local members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been encouraged by the Regional Authorities to participate as much as possible. Check out the website to see all of the activities they are sponsoring this week. They're even having discounted movie tickets, dinners and kids events.

Today, they had the kick-off at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa. My Dad was in charge of the the Church's volunteers and being a liason with the organizers. Most of my family volunteered, while Katie, my sister Bekah, and myself went to enjoy the free admission at the Museum.

Of course, as most things go now-a-days, it was all about making Kaitlyn happy. We started off meandering around the main complex and quickly realized it was not going to be holding Katie's attention. So, off to "Kids In Charge" we went. There is a huge building souly dedicated to kids exploring and learning. A much better fit for a toddler.

The first thing that hooked Kaitlyn was an "exhibit" sponsored by Publix. There was an orange grove, a farm, a deli and a grocery store filled with fake foods and conveyer belts.

Kaitlyn really liked picking the "balls" and taking them to the farm. She loves to have a job.

Then we found that there was an "Astronaut Training Program" we could participate in. Katie was too small to do most of the activities (which were all some kind of bounce house/obstacle course/velcro wall. The smallest bounce house was just her size and it contained a slide.

Bekah tried out the last challenge, which was a huge slide housed in the farthest corner of "Kids in Charge".

She burned her heels on the canvas on her way down. Ouchie!

Bekah is such a good Aunt. She followed Katie all around, wherever and whenever she wanted to go. She also crawled in and out of these tunnels with her. Bless her. There is no way (even if Mommy wasn't 8 months pregnant) that I would have been that patient.

Katie was also really drawn to this light table with translucent colored shapes. You could stack them up and see different colors... kind of like an open ended kalidescope.

On our way out to the Lowry Park Petting Zoo, we passed by a live band that was rockin' away in the 88 degree heat. They didn't let a little heat and sweat stop 'em!

When I think petting zoo, I think sheep, goat, bunny.... definitely not snake.

We didn't get to see what else they had because Katie dumped her snack in the dirt (on accident) and then decided to start running around the ampi-theater. Then, she started to have a fit when we tried to corral her. It was definitely nap time.

So, bye- bye MOSI. Thanks for the fun!