Seasame Street, Super Heroes and not a TV in sight

Before heading to the pond to join Tim and Susanna, we spent a couple days in Rochester. High on our list of things to do was a visit to the Museum of Play. IT. DID. NOT. DISAPPOINT. I'd go as far as to say that this museum ALONE is worth the five hour drive from Ottawa/Gatineau. Truly amazing.

The museum has a large Sesame Street area, complete with the famous steps, Big Bird's nest and full Elmo's World. All totally exact and interactive.

 

We paid extra in order to visit the butterfly exhibit. Eloise didn't last long (she just wanted down to play in the puddles and chase the tiny quails), but the boys enjoyed it more than I thought they would. Liam grabbed an identification guide and went on a hunt for all the different species. Andrew was more into the little quails, and the toucan and other birds. Simon... poor Simon... he wanted SO BADLY for butterflies to land on him. I don't think I've ever seen him stand that still for that long! He's so rarely NOT in motion! A couple of them did land on his hand or back, but only briefly and not really long enough to satisfy him.

 

This area of the museum DEFINITELY had the best lighting. I love these shots of the boys. Not sure what Andrew's up to in that first one, but it makes me smile.

 

Next up was the Super Hero exhibit. Oohhhh boy! Are you ready for a glut of pictures?? The boys loved EVERY INCH of it.

 

Aren't the building-climbing ones fun? Check out the ones below of Eloise dragging Peter. I was almost crying while taking these... I'm surprised they turned out!

 

This next series shows Simon and Andrew receiving their super powers. Simon was totally into it.  I'm surprised he didn't try to leap off a tall building afterwards.

The museum also had this amazing mini grocery store where kids could shop, play butcher/baker/etc, and then check themselves out, complete with printed receipt. In the back, behind the store was a mini TV station with set ups for a cooking show, weather and news. It even had working cameras the kids to operate and move around to film different areas of the set. We spent quite awhile back there and I have a few ridiculous videos to upload to YouTube later.

 

At the last minute, we decided to go upstairs and walk through the toy archives,where the boys loved seeing all the old Star Wars toys, the original Lego set, along with a bunch of other fun vintage toys and games. There was a large section featuring a vast collection of old/antique/vintage dolls and, let me tell you, it was SUPER creepy. Eloise didn't notice, but it made the hairs on my arms stand up and the boys REFUSED to take more than a few steps in. Spooooky! 

We ended our trip with lunch in the old school diner at the museum. The food was forgettable, but the pink vinyl and chrome decor made up for it.

 

All in all, a fabulous morning and I'm officially jealous of anyone who lives in Rochester and gets to visit whenever they want. Hands down the best children's museum we've ever been to.