The Smiths: Ford Museum

If you know me at all, you know our Black Friday consisted of lots and lots of shopping! Ha! Yeah right!

We took it nice and easy on Friday morning in our warm, comfortable home. We lounged around and watched several episodes of Stargate. After a lunch of leftovers, we got ready for a little outing. Kevin and Naomi had brought with them several tickets to the Ford Museum so we loaded everyone up and made the 30 minute drive.

The place was HUGE and apparently has an outdoor village attached with tons more to see. We allotted about 2 hours and didn't find out until we got there that it takes at least 9 or 10 to see the whole thing. Oops! Good thing we didn't pay for the tickets....

They had the place decked out for Christmas and one perk of travelling with others - someone to take family pictures!

Our first stop in this huge museum was the display of presidential autos. I think this bubble top was Eisenhower's? Too many to remember!

This one's hard to forget - Teddy Roosevelt! Doesn't look likes there's room in there for a big stick, though....

Next up - trains! Surprisingly, there were very few cars at the Ford Museum. Lots of just about everything else (trains, steam engines, airplanes, and multiple other random exhibits), but not a lot of cars.

So on to trains :)

That's Naomi at the bottom of the shot getting a picture of Brooklyn.

This one's for Wong - it's a Canadian train! Look at the plow on the front!

Eve had the most fun at the play areas - no surprise there! She got to ride a rocking train (and only got stuck in the bottom of it - where your feet are supposed to go - for a minute or two....nothing serious....).

And train tracks! These were very popular with the bigger kids, but I managed to snag her a train car to play with for a bit.

"This is really cool, Mom!"

After trains we stepped forward in time (not by much!) to airplanes. Glad they've upgraded a bit since this model, or it'd be a LONG flight to Denver in a couple of weeks!

Not the original, but still fun to see!

Eve and the creepy spectator at a recorded air show. Don't talk to strangers! Unless they're fake....

And the highlight of the museum for all of us - Oz! Who knew? But they had so many fun things for Eve to do and she got to get down and roam somewhat freely.

Not that freely, Eve!

They had real animal sounds! Not the kind that Mommy and Daddy try to make. Almost like being at a real farm!

A real farm with tiny, plastic cows :)

Eve was a little too proficient at harvesting the crops.

Funny mirror baby is just as fun to kiss as regular mirror baby!

The math part of this game was a bit beyond her, but Eve could certainly spin those blocks like a champ!

Are you starting to see why this exhibit was our favorite?

Andrew helped Eve crawl through the lion's forest...

And she had enough courage to meet him up close!

We didn't have enough courage to let her attempt the wood slide on her own.

"Can I bring this home with me Mommy? I know it will make me smarter!"

And the most edible car award goes to.....

We missed Santa this time around, but did get to see where the toys are made! Seems kind of small...good thing elves are little!

Alright, enough pictures - let's get in our sleigh and head home!

We got separated from Kevin, Naomi, and Jennie for most of the time sadly. Their girls are a little older, so had more fun at the other exhibits than Eve did. But I think it's safe to say that it was a good time for all!

We headed back home at that point and had a feast of leftovers!

As promised earlier, a picture of Eve sleeping with her puppy. I think this was even the first night we let her take it in her bed. So cute!

After the kiddies went to bed, the party began. Chocolate fondue!

Good thing we had Jennie and Naomi there to show us how to properly slice a pineapple (I've never done it!).

Look at all that deliciousness! We had pineapple, apples, bananas, strawberries, pretzels, marshmallows, pound cake, and cream puffs. No one went to bed hungry, that's for sure.

Saturday morning dawned bright and early. A little too early for me. I was exhausted. Andrew was so sweet and got up with Eve and took her out front to play with Brooklyn and Lily while I slept in for another how. That was after she'd gotten up super early and had a leaky diaper in our bed. Since her clean clothes were in the room where the girls were still sleeping, it was down to just a diaper and sweatshirt for Eve. She didn't mind and had fun playing one last time with her second cousins!