Day 11

Today it really rained! And thundered. And some lightning. And of course today was the day that we really got out and about town. We started out with a visit to Anne's longtime friend of 63 years, Elaine. From there, we had the tire pressure checked and stopped for some lunch. After we ate, the rain was really coming down. We saw some flooded streets, but nothing we couldn't pass. My undercarriage has never been so clean! We made it to the Houston's Children Museum by 1:30, just in time for the thunder and lightning. We walked in and examined a few of the exhibits. First was the telephones... Next we stumbled onto one of the best exhibits I have ever seen at a Children's museum. It was called Kidtropolis. It was an interactive kid city where children try out different careers, earn a paycheck, open a bank account, manage money and "live" life. It was so cute and Olivia and Nathan had so much fun. It was a bit overwhelming for Eli, so Grandma took him upstairs to the TotSpot for some more age appropriate fun.

For Olivia and Nathan, they started out getting a job at a bicycle repair shop. That is where they earned their first paycheck. Next we went to the bank where they opened an account and got an ATM card. Next we went to work at Veterinarian. You got to choose your animal...

Grab it's chart and mark down the animals vital signs...

Once you complete you "job", you head over to the bank to either cash your paycheck...

...or head over to the local ATM to make a deposit or withdrawal...
And in Kidtropolis, you get to give your parents an allowance which they can take to the bank to cash...
Some of the other jobs you could hold were News Reporter...

....you could cast your vote at City Hall...

...work in a forensics lab....

...and get a free ride in a police car...

There was so much more including a grocery store where you could work and buy groceries, a restaurant where you could be an employee or a customer and a stock trading floor.

We finally caught up with Grandma and Eli and headed downstairs for some last minute self-face painting....

And this was the final result...

After our exciting afternoon, we dropped Olivia and Nathan off at cousin Rachels house for a cousin sleepover. She bought more of the yummy cupcakes and planned a walk to a nearby grocery store to buy dinner. When we checked in later they had a kid themed dinner of chicken, mac & cheese and fruit. They were eating cupcakes and playing Wii with plans to play Sorry and Scrabble.

Sharon and I had a much needed retail therapy vacation to Nordstroms. We spent a couple hours combing the 3 floors looking a cute clothes, jewelry and purses. We had a quick dinner on our way home while Eli spent the evening with Grandma. When Sharon dropped me off, Eli cried for Aunt Sharon to take him with her....it was so cute and sad at the same time.