Our Friday Funday

Since Shane went back to work, I've been spending so much time trying to create fun adventures for Luke. Basically, I'm trying to pack in everything I want us to do before January. I know that it won't make it easier to return in January, but I know that I'll least I'll return knowing that we made the most of our days together.

The best thing we've done lately is visit Bellaboo's last Friday. This place just recently opened, so not only had we never visited, but I didn't know anyone who had visited, either. From looking at the website, I thought it was just indoor play with various things to do. I was actually worried because we weren't meeting any friends, and I was afraid that Luke wouldn't get the most of it since I'd have to split my time with Tommy.

In a rare moment, my expectations were met...and exceeded. From the moment we walked in, I was so impressed. I was impressed with the security, as they tagged us all with wristbands when we first entered, even Tommy. We were greeted by a police officer who appeared to be acting as security, and everywhere I looked, there were signs saying that adults without children in attendance would NOT be admitted. I felt that if for some reason I had to take my eye off of Luke, he would be safe. I was also impressed by the cleanliness. It was bright, airy, and filled with sinks and soap at KID height, so the kids could always clean their hands.

And then the place itself. Oh, Luke hardly knew where to begin. He first ran into the water room, and shortly after, an employee came in and began to speak to him. She showed him how the water currents and the dam worked, and the entire time we were in the water room, she played with him. At first, I just thought that she was especially nice, but as we went on, I realized that ALL of the employees were like that. Every single person who worked there interacted with the children on an educational and personal level, and best? They seemed to truly enjoy it.

We visited the train room, which Luke, of course loved.

And if you know Luke, you KNOW he loved the ball pit

I loved it, too, because not only was it clean, but this target would pull up the balls and send them through a cleaner, plus I was assured by an employee that the ball pit was cleaned each and every day.

After I drug Luke out of the balls, we went to the block room, where he became an astronaut who specialized in carpentry.

He also did an awesome art project. I wish I had pictures of this, but I was nursing Tommy at the time. A wonderful employee helped Luke trace autumn leaves, cut them out, and then make tissue paper flowers. While Luke was working on his art project, she also read a story to all of the children with the kids, interacting and making them all a part of the story. Luke got to take all of his art projects home, of course.
Finally, we stopped in at the cooking class, where Luke made a recreation of autumn leaves with small cubes of Jello.

While the kids were all "cooking," the employees discussed color using the Jello cubes, plus sang songs.

In short, our time was nothing short of amazing. We spent two and a half hours here, and we still didn't have time to see everything! In fact, we loved it so much that we'll hopefully return soon, plus we're really considering having Luke's birthday party there.
If you live in Northwest Indiana, have you been? What did you think? If you don't live in my area, do you have any place like this near you?

Bellaboo's did not in any way pay for or endorse this entry or even know that I was writing it. I just loved it so much that I wanted to give them a little free advertising--honest!