Raleigh's Children Museum, Marbles

The day after Megan's wedding, Dallas flew back to Fort Lauderdale for work.  Daxton and I decided to stay another couple days with Greg and Heidi in Raleigh before starting our road trip back home.  On one of the days, Heidi took us to the most incredible children's museums in Raleigh.  Neither of us knew how amazing it would turn out to be and I only wish we could have spent more time there!  

The second we realized that the entrance was through a bus-turned into slide, we knew our tough boys were going to have a blast!  There was every possible automobile for each of the kids to explore and play on.  Each were sponsored by different community groups. They did such an incredible job making everything interactive and enjoyable for the kids.
Daxton was in heaven!

The entrance...
The back of the bus was opened and turned into a slide for the kids to go down before entering the museum.

Daxton loved steering the speedboat which was stocked with not only life vests, but fishing pools and felt fish to catch off the back.

So clever!

Heidi and I tried so many times to get a picture of these two crazies together, but they were much too busy to want to look at the camera.

Tommy looked adorable in the fireman's uniform.

The ambulance was pretty cool and even opened in the back where there were doctor supplies and a stretcher.  They also had little dolls for the kids to check on and listen to heartbeats.

The big helicopter was one of Daxton and Tommy's favorites.  There were two different flying seats with controllers in the back.

The farming area was also pretty awesome.

There were rows of corn and potatoes for kids to plant, pick, and weed.  There were also chickens that would hatch eggs, places to milk cows, and bottles to feed pigs.

Daxton's favorite, by far, was when we walked around the corner and found a three story high pirate ship!  He literally squealed with delight and spent almost an hour exploring every nook and cranny.

It was so detailed.  They had brooms to swab the deck, a flag and anchor to raise and lower, checkers and chess in the captains quarters, and even a plank for pirates to jump off.  This little pirate could not have been happier!

Next to the pirate ship was a small aquarium tank and a submarine for kids to explore.  Daxton loved pushing all the buttons and using the magnifying glass.

When we finally made it upstairs we were again blown away.  They had an incredible sports area where kids could play hockey, basketball, gymnastics, dance, trampolines...it literally never ended!

The boys had a blast playing hockey in their socks.  It was pretty funny to see them wind up and swing while sliding across the floor.

The netted in area with several balls and hoops for basketball.

Daxton and Tommy also had fun exploring the exposed cages that looked down onto the first floor from the second.  I love the picture below of Tommy looking down.

We were super sad because the museum closed early for cleaning the day we were there.  We didn't even have time to make it to all the rooms!  The last big room we explored before getting kicked out dealt with money.  Kids could pull money out of an ATM, make and buy pizzas, and visit several other stores.  It was a really creative way to introduce money.

My absolute favorite picture from the day!

At one point I looked over at Daxton while we were playing in the pirate ship and I couldn't help but giggle.  He looked so content and happy.  It was the perfect gift he could have given me.  I'm doing my job if this is the look on his face...

We had such a blast with Heidi and Tommy exploring Marbles Children Museum.  I joked to Dallas that I would move to Raleigh just so we could get passes there.  It's not too far from the truth!