W, L, and I just finished a short tour of North Carolina traveling to Hickory to visit my friend Elizabeth and her family and then to Fayettville to visit my friend Jennifer and her family. These girls can be put in the category of "old friends". I met them 8 years ago and that is hard to believe, seems like only a couple of years have past--but, so many things have changed. Hickory is a cute little town. While there, we visited a Catawba Science Center. It is basically a children's museum housed in an old school building--I thought it was a great use for an otherwise possibly unused building. In the museum there is a room of all sorts of bones, skulls, fossils, shells, sea life, etc. William really enjoyed all that stuff--looking at it anyway, he wouldn't dare touch any of the things that were touchable. L was completely terrified of the fossils and bones. Most of those things are cataloged in drawers. When I pulled one drawer out, L screamed and jumped into my arms--what a girl, huh! She couldn't wait to leave that room. She did like the turtle and the tortoise--but, they were alive! Next up was the area called "Swamp Things". This area was a little creepy to L as well. But, William was pretty cool with it. We were there specifically to see the feeding of the crocodile. But, first W sat with other children and listened to a man give some information about the American croc such as what it eats (W was used as an example), where it lives, how big it gets, etc. After the lesson, W watched the croc eat a dead rodent and some raw chicken breast. The other exciting thing in that room was the Albino Burmese Python that was nearly 4 times the length of W. After that, W, L, and Madison played in an outside area where they could listen to their echo in a long tube, send boats down a stream, climb a rock wall, and get dirty. Last stop was the energy room. W and L really liked this room--there were rocket launchers, spinning chairs, chair that went up and down with a rope, blowers and suckers to make balls fly. The next day in Hickory we all went to a park with a splash pad and some really fun equipment. I think the hit at this playground was the standing see saw, at least for L. W enjoyed the splash pad a little bit, but mostly enjoyed all the different climbing mechanisms on the play structures. That night, Hickory Downtown for ice cream and some live music. The music was enjoyable, but I particularly liked the painted benches and the very interesting people. Now, onto Fayettville. W and L met Sarah-Grace, not for the first time, but for the first time that W will actually remember. L and Sarah-Grace will probably only remember with the help of the many, many pictures taken. The first night, W, L and Sarah-Grace played outside on her swing set. L was particularly taken by the 3 dogs--Annie, Maisy, and Marley. The three went outside so L insisted on being out there. Later that evening, the whole bunch went for a walk. L hijacked Sarah-Grace's doll and doll stroller (for the duration of the visit) and pushed it the entire walk refusing to get in a stroller herself. The walk took a significant amount of time since L constantly had to stop and check on her baby. W took the opportunity to ride in the stroller. The next day, out to lunch (there was not way we were making it out of the house before then) and then to the Fayettville Children's Museum. That place was a HUGE hit. It's a small museum but plenty is packed in for the entertainment of little ones. The museum is set up in sections (construction station, post office, court room with voting booth, grocery store, locker room, doctors office, dental office, weather station, dress up, army, (need I name more)) with each section equipped with clothing, accessories and other paraphernalia necessary for the operation. Two sections were particularly successful with L--grocery and dress up. I had to carry her away from the grocery story. She loved her little toddler sized grocery cart and filling it up with all the yummy food she could find. Then unloading the groceries to be checked out....and repeat about 4 or 5 times. But, she had know idea that dress up was right around the corner. That place was like the jackpot for L--shoes, shoes, everywhere. This was a place after a little girl's heart. L put on some high-heeled shoes and sashayed around the museum--like she owned the place. W liked getting dressed up in the construction section, court room, and the locker room; the mailman was just to appease me. After L dominating the high-heels, I particularly enjoyed W giving a weather forecast. That section was sets up so the forecaster could watch themselves as they delivered the weather on the T.V. W and L each took a turn with the weather--L did it just to copy W, what a little sister. W was highly entertained by the large yellow funnel that a ball circled until going through the funnel, he could have stayed there all day. I don't really know why that is so fascinating, but then again I am not nearly 4-year-old boy. So, that about wraps up our visit of North Caroline. We had a great time and can't wait till the next visit with our friends.
