More on Christmas Morning

After we had opened presents and eaten (of course!) at our house, we went to Jon's parent's house for the day. Eric and Michelle and cousins ( ages 7, 6, 4, 2, and 1) were there. So it was very loud, busy and chaotic. But Nicholas loved it all. He got another Christmas present - yet another toy that lights up and makes a lot of noise! He loved it, and loved playing with his cousins.

Jon also got a pair of BYU pants, and Nicholas got his very own BYU blanket (which has been put to good use). I got a very funny book. It was a great Christmas all around!

Our Family Christmas Photo

We really tried to get a good one, but sometimes it isn't possible. So Jon and I look great - but Nicholas is a little sad looking. He was really hungry and upset about not being able to play the organ or piano at church.

Early Christmas Morning

Anyone who thinks that a kid needs to learn how to undo a stocking is kidding themselves. Just take a look at Nicholas here.

Nicholas must have known something was special. He woke up nice and early (his present to mom and dad) and wouldn't go back to sleep. Grrrr. So we all got up and opened presents from Santa.

Nicholas got a nice V-Smile Baby thing that is like a baby computer. He also got some other toys and a few more books. Jon got a BYU blanket, books and some fun stuff. I got the Cosby Show dvds, some bath stuff and other fun items (like the 80's cds).

We didn't stay at home too long. Just long enough to open presents and get dressed.

Here are some pictures.

Santa came to the Wunderlich household.

Jon and his BYU blanket.

Nicholas can really open presents! He's even opening mine.

Nicholas opening other presents.

Nicholas thinks Jon's sudoku game is really his.

Nicholas' First Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve.


I am proud to report that Nicholas loved every minute of his Christmas Eve. And so did Jon and I (even if we were a bit tired).


We started the morning off waking up and feeding our son - again. Then went to my mom and grandma's where Nicholas got spoiled with a lot of toys that make noise. Nicholas also got to eat - again- and spend some time chaing Max (the dog) and trying to figure out what to do with some bows. He has a lot of fun.


Then we went over to my aunt's. Now, for those of you who don't know, Nicholas loves dogs. Most dogs and cats he has met - until now - don't really like him because he plays kind of roughly. He likes to grab at things like tails and ears. However, the three dogs (Oliver the Basset Hound and Lulu and Casey the lab mixes) didn't mind at all. They also were half my size, and could (and did) knock over and sit on Nicholas. But he didn't mind either. He loved the dogs. They let him grab tails and everything. So he played with the dogs, and the dogs showed their appreciation and licked him (which resulted in a bath to get the dog slobber off).


Nicholas and my cousins also played well. Uncle Paul, Aunt Rita, PJ and Matt met Nicholas for the first time. Everyone had a lot of fun.


Thanks for making it a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Aunt Debby gave Nicholas a present. Although it looks like Nicholas doesn't know what to do with the wrapping paper - he really does. At least he does if there's not too much tape.

Lest you think that socks belong on your feet, Nicholas wants you to know that socks belong in your mouth. I think his mistook them for candy canes.

Nicholas didn't like the bows. Although I thought he looked cute with them all over. He let me know that boys aren't supposed to play with bows - his father agrees.

Nicholas ate a lot - and often - on Christmas Eve. half of what we packed was food for Nicholas. Or clothes for Nicholas. Or diapers for Nicholas. It's not like we didn't pack a lot of stuff to take with us.

My Uncle Paul has a strange sense of humor when it comes to playing jokes - although he did play this one on his older brother. The purple pillow in the picture was just eaten and slobbered over (and soaked with slobber) by the dogs. So he put it on his elder brother's bed. Just to let him use it that night. Gross.

This is my mom holding a sleeping Nicholas with my sister. Isn't it a cute picture!

This is Nicholas "helping" pull the white elephant names out of the bowl. My cousin Mark is just watching him. Thanks Mark. It's not like we didn't need those names for something - say the white elephant exchange?

This is Oliver and Nicholas playing. Or Oliver licking Nicholas and Nicholas laughing. Either way - they were both enjoying it.

This is Nicholas and Uncle Paul. It took a lot to get Uncle Paul to hold him, so I wasn't going to miss the chance to get a good picture.

Nicholas likes the catepillar Aunt Debby got him - especially since the antennas light up!

Our Dinner with the Parkers

Last night we went over to the Parkers for dinner. The Parkers are a great family. They have three kids (Jessica, Rebecca and Brian) and two parents (Walter and Tammi). Walter and I work on the choir at church together. Jessica is our babysitter for Nicholas.

Tammi is always ready to have Nicholas over when Jon and I need to go out, or if I desperately need some help so I can clean things (you try cleaning a house when you have a crwaling baby trying to find you, and stopping whenever something fun - even if its unsafe- grabs his attention). They are so very nice. And they sit in front of us in church, and play with Nicholas. During choir practices for Christmas, they were always there ready to play with Nicholas while I was being the accompanist for the choir.

They invited us over last night for dinner, and so we could see al the Christmas decorations. Nicholas found thier glittery hanging ornaments off their trees (3 of them) irresistable. But they also had gifts for Nicholas! They gave him Winnie -the-Pooh books - which are so fun to read. Nicholas loves books, and I love reading to him. However, he really enjoys his dad reading to him. The looks of adoration his dad gets when they sit down to read are so cute. So thank you to the Parker family for expanding the Nicholas library - which was in much need of expansion. Horton Hatches and Egg and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fishcan get very tiring after a while.

But Brian, the youngest boy, gave Nicholas a great gift. Brian had a bunch of church- related cardboard books (like My First New Testament) and the like that he gave to Nicholas. It was really very sweet. I was so thankful.

So thank you Parker family for a wonderful night and such wonderful presents from your house. We will have to have a Wii and pizza night soon.

Sunday was the church Christmas program...

So Sunday was the church Christmas program.



I played flute (and really enjoyed it). I was also supposed to play a piano piece (O Love So Small). They gave me 2 weeks to learn this piece (I am not a good piano sight reader). It has 70 measures, no repeates, starts with 5 flats and has 7 key changes. None of the key changes lead to anything but a mess of flats and sharps. Needless to say, it is hard to practice when you don't have a piano at home, so I was scrablng between my mom's, Jon's mom's, the Parkers and the church building to practice. And then came Sunday. What a disaster! We started choir practice at 7:30 AM. I couldn't play the piece. I got through the first 20 measures before I would falter. So I made a hard decision, and gave it up. So I conducted that piece instead of playing. It was horrible!



But the flute playing was awesome, and any number of people told me so.



The one good thing from all of this - no one is going to ask me to play piano for the choir on short notice again.

Just some random pictures

Here are some random pictures of Nicholas. He's doing great. He is crawling - FORWARDS - and getting into everything. I had no idea babies were strong enough to pull things off shelves, pull things over (like the coat rack, with coats on it) and do all sorts of damage. He really does get into everything. Just when you think you've put it up high enough, or back far enough, he gets into it.

He's also pulling himself up on everything. I do mean everything. He uses boxes, chairs, people's clothing, tables, shelves, walls - really anything. He will even push himself up on things not meant to be used for that, or too small to help him stand upright. But it's what he does.

He also likes to cruise along the couch and other pieces of furniture. If there is a wall nearby he will cruise along that as well.

On Friday, for the first time, he crawled to his dad when his dad came home! It was awesome. And Jon rewarded him with a huge hug and some kisses and constant gratitude. Now if only he would want to come to me at the end of daycare instead of trying to hang out there all day.


This is Nicholas after he has fed himself chocolate pudding - among other things.


This is Nicholas after he has fed himself sweet potatoes. Now you see why meals are followed IMMEDIATELY by bathtime.


This is Nicholas eating his dad's glasses. Along with shoes, he loves to steal glasses from your face and play with them.


This is Nicholas at the BYU game. Stephen gave him the bottle, and you could not get it away from him. Of course he knew how to drink from it - everyone else at the game was doing it. So he wanted to do it too.


This is Nicholas on the swing at the park. He loves the swings. He loves the outside. He loves the swings. He knows just what to do.

Our Day At the Nut Tree Family Park

Well, Saturday December 6th I met my mother and grandmother in Vacaville (with Nicholas) for lunch. We had a great lunch at Panera - and Nicholas got a grilled cheese kids meal. He ate half the sandwich! And then proceeded to entertain everyone with his eating of the french bread that came with the other meals. He also liked to play with the paper that decorated our plates. He was a pretty good side-show. Maybe we should charge admission :) Then we could recover some of the cost of his food.

Afterwards we went to the Nut Tree Family Park. They have free admission and unlimited rides for state workers, and half-off the free admission and unlimited rides for everyone with you. So I got in free, with unlimited rides, and for $10.48 my mom and grandma got in with unlimited rides. Nicholas was under 2, so he's naturally free (at least in admission to the park).

We rode the train, which Nicholas didn't like the first time, but liked the second. Then we rode the merry-go-round - which he loved! He sat on the horse in front of my mom. Before we started moving he was playing with his rabbit, but after we started moving he was fascinated by all the other horses moving around. We tried to go on the rescue rangers ride, but Nicholas wasn't buying it. He rode the rocking horses. But there were 5 other rides we didn't even try - that included bumper cars and a roller coaster.

Then we went to Fenton's ice cream parlor. My mom fed Nicholas chocolate ice cream. He liked it - after he got over it being cold. He liked it so much that he put his hands into the sundae with chocolate sauce and ice cream going all over - including all over him. It was a fun day.

This is me and Nicholas by the elephant on the merry-go-round. We both like elephants.

This is my mom ans Nicholas on their horse - well their rabbit. .

This was Nicholas sitting on my mom's lap on the train. He really didn't like the noise or the movement the first time, but the second time was great.

This is my mom putting Nicholas on the rocking horse. This was one day before Nicholas started his pulling up, so we were carrying him everywhere and helping him on everything (as you have to do with babies).

Finally - the Thanksgiving pictures

I am really slow - sorry! But here are all the pictures from Thanksgiving. And it was a great one. Turns out that Nicholas loves stuffing and gravy and mashed potatos made with sour cream and butter.

The Weekly Update

So it has been a while since I have posted onto this blog. I just wanted to give everyone an update.

Nicholas is doing great. He crawls forwards at daycare, but not at home. At least, until yesterday. I saw him crawl forwards. But, as usual, when his father came home he just regressed to being held and standing with his dad. And playing - lots of playing.

We had a great Thanksgiving. Thank you to everyone who made it so great. Nicholas had turkey, mashed potatos and stuffing. He loved the stuffing. He's not the biggest fan of turkey. We still made him try it. He makes faces :) He also had ice cream (thanks Mom and Debby). He did like that. He makes a face at first (it's cold!) and then smiles. Then he starts searching for more, reaching and grabbing for whatever you have that you gave him ice cream from. Like father like son.

We started decorating the house for Christmas. I have put up about half our stuff. I pulled out 2 of the 5 boxes and decorated. I didn't want to pull them all out and have them sitting around undone, so I only pulled out what I could get done. So now I have some Christmas. I will finish this weekend.

Nicholas has discovered a new love - Christmas decorations. Specifically the fake evergreen stuff in leaves and garlands. He loves it. He gets all excited and wiggly when he gets close. And then feels it and starts laughing and giggling. It really is quite cute. Except that I made these wreaths, and they are somewhat delicate. So it can be less than funny when he pulls stuff out of them and I have to repair them.

Nicholas is also pulling himself up on everything. I mean everything - his crib, sofas, tables and shirts. Yes - shirts. Even my necklace on occasion. He also tries on jeans and pant legs. This makes for a lot of destroyed shirts in our house - the necklines get all bent out of shape. But this is a good skill for him to develop. I cannot wait until he's walking.

As for me and Jon - we are doing well. We went to see our first movie since the new Indiana Jones came out - we went and saw the new James Bond movie on the day after Thanksgiving. It was a great James Bond flick. Action, girls, action and somewhat of a story line. It was great. I loved it. Jon liked it too. What was great was that we got to spend the time together, and Nicholas spent the time with his grandma and great-grandma.

Pictures are forthcoming, I have to charge the camera (the battery went dead). Then I will post new pictures of Nicholas.

In other news, I have lost 65+ lbs since Nicholas was born. I feel great. I am down 6 sizes in clothing - which is fabulous.

Jon's basketball team is doing well. He's getting out and playing with the guys - which is good.

And my classes are over next week. Then I can really start to feel like it is Christmas time!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

I just wanted to write a Happy Thanksgiving note to everyone.



I am thankful for all that everyone has done this past year. It has been an eventful year, with the birth of Nicholas and everything. Everyone has been great with helping out and babysitting, and cleaning and keeping me and Jon company. Thanks for all your support as we have begun this brand new adventure in our lives - and what an adventure it is.



Jon and I are also thankful for Nicholas. We cannot imagine life without him. His smiles light up our days. When he says "dada" or "mama" it is one of the most magical feelings we can have. And it gets even better when he says it, reaches for you and smiles. There is nothing like knowing he loves us and wants to be with us. I would say we are thankful for the late nights and early mornings, but not really :) We are thankful for them in the sense that we have Nicholas and those are part of the job, but really, we could do without them. And the poopy diapers - although those are a sign everything is working right with him.



We are thankful for our friends and families for keeping us sane, helping us out and providing great fun and company.



In this time we are also thankful for having good jobs, paid-off cars, and knowledge of what a budget it.



We are truely thankful this year for everything we have - including you.



Happy Thanksgiving.



Natasha, Jon and Nicholas Wunderlich

Finger Painting!

So we had our first finger painting experience on Thursday. I figured, he paints all the time with his food, why not see if he can create some real master pieces. So we went to the art store and got Crayola finger paints. They are non-toxic (which is good since he still eats everything in sight). And we also got some paper. Crayola had these other finger paints that only paint on the Color-Safe paper (where they don't color on anything but the paper, so there is theoretically no mess to clean up). But where is the fun in that?


So we started.


I was smart - he got stripped to his diaper and socks before we began. I put a towel down in the kitchen - figuring that floor is easier to clean than the carpet. And I put the paint onto a plastic plate, and put the paper in front of him.


First thing he did was dump the plate over. Onto the floor. Not onto the towel, but the floor. Then he was so excited he tried chasing the plate around the kitchen for a little bit. Then we got down to finger painting.

He made 5 pictures (I posted them below). In between the pictures, he did more plate chasing - which resulted in a new blue-green kitchen floor for me. He also did some body painting. Which resulted in a bath for him. And some wiping of my glasses for me. He got paint all over! But it was so much fun! I didn't even mind cleaning up. Can those paints clean up easily. All I needed was a warm, wet washcloth, and everything was clean again.

We are going to do this again in a heart beat.

As a side note, I never understood why my mother put all our creations on the fridge. They were incredibly ugly (in some cases). Yet they all went on the fridge. Now I understand. The finger paintings aren't a Picasso, but they are so precious. Ours got framed and will be put on the wall. Jon has one to take to work, and each set of grandparents gets one. So we shall see where they all end up.

Finally - some mama's

Nicholas started speaking about 3 weeks ago. He spent 3 days saying "mama." Jon spent those three days trying to get him to say "dada."

Then he spent the next 3 weeks saying "dada." I guess Jon's persistance paid off. I mean, I got a mama here and there. But he really likes saying "dada." Especially when Jon is around - because then he gets all kinds of attention from Jon. So he loves his dada. I get it. But would it suck so much to have said a mama in there sometime?

But he said it yesterday - very, very clearly. He said it, and I swept him up in the biggest hug and cuddling thing you can imagine. I love hearing it. It makes cleaning up after him and his cold worth while (I would do it anyways, I mean he's my baby...but still....). He said mama a few times yesterday.

I cannot describe how wonderful it is to hear him say mama. Although if you ahve experienced your child saying it to you for the first few times you know what I mean. It is gratifying because you know that your child is speaking, or starting too. And you know he can hear and speak. So some of your language barrier concerns are now gone. But then it is so loving too. He just says mama, and my heart melts. It is like he is recognizing all the stuff I do for him and he loves me. It is just a perfect feeling of bliss. It brings me back to the time that I first held him (and knew it was him). It was perfect.

The past 2 weeks

So in the past two weeks, Nicholas has done a lot.


We had our first Halloween with him. We found out that he doesn't like the dark ith a lot of lights, or the rain. Or a lot of noise. So that pretty much made use leave our halloween party early. But that was okay. We got home and he went to sleep. What a good camper!

This is Nicholas and his father. If there was any doubt that Nicholas adored his father, just look at Nicholas looking at Jon. That's some adoration.

This is me and Nicholas on Halloween. We are in light-up t-shirts and he has nifty socks that light-up...I didn't. We decided on no costume for Nicholas. I didn't want the poor kid to be struggling through a costume - he hates clothes! I cannot imagine him and a costume!

I also took him in to work today (after I was done) to show him off. He hasn't been around there since September, and he has changed so much. Plus, I like to show him off. He's such a good kid, and so cute. I never tire of hearing people say how cute he is or how happy and nice he is. It is amazing that Jon and I produced him. Not that we aren't cute, but we are no where near as cute as Nicholas. As normal - everyone at work loved him and played with him. He was pretty good there. And his favorite part (other than getting to see dada for extra time) was riding the Light Rail in and out. He loved the train. He couldn't move his head and arms fast enough to see and touch everything. he also liked the backhoe that was working at the Light Rail station. I didn't know what it was called. I was calling it an electric shovel, when one of the construction guys told me it was a backhoe. Then Nicholas watched it. And would clap and giggle everytime the backhoe moved. So they started moving it just for him. Those were nice construction workers. This was Nicholas' first time on light rail when he was awake. We have taken it twice before, and he slept both ways, both times. He was also small enough to be in a car seat on his stroller then. Now he had to plya with mama and all the fun people on the train. Here's the thing - have you ever tried lugging a HUGE baby, folded stroller and diaper bag on and off Light Rail? They make you fold the stroller (which is stupid since they have a flat connector you can use isntead of the stairs). It is an incredible pain in the butt. It was worse when we got back to the station because the train was full, people had to move, I was clumsy (suprise), and Nicholas was asleep - so he was a lump in my arms that I had to protect since he wasn't able to cling to me. It was a pain. Light rail should revise that rule. They let bikes, carts, wheel chairs and huge luggage on there without folding them. Why not strollers? Anyways, pictures are below!

This is Nicholas in his stroller at the Watt/Manlove station. Obviously before we had to fold the stroller. But I think he was smiling at the backhoe behind me. Maybe he will be an architect or construction guy in his future!

This is Nicholas and Jon at work. Nicholas did very well and didn't mess-up his dad's shirt. Isn't he a cutie! (I mean Nicholas, although I think Jon's cute too)

This is Nicholas at my desk - pardon the mess. He is all ready to go and type. I had to learn how to type. He's 7.5 months old and can already manage - that's not fair. Here's to our future Budget Analyst.

He Goes Backwards!

You know, people have always told me that babies go backwards before they go forwards. I didn't believe it. Why would someone go backwards when what they want is in front of them? But sure enough it is true.

Nicholas has started moving quite well - backwards. He sometimes goes forwards, but there has to be something really good there - like a cookie or something. And there has to be no one around to get it for him. Otherwise, he likes to move backwards. He does launch himself forwards from a sitting position to see if he can reach something, but then he goes backwards.

He can spin on his stomach too. 360 degrees. So he sees something he wants out of his reach and spins around so his butt is pointing towards the item. Then he scoots backwards. As soon as he feels his feet touching something, he turns back around 180 degrees and plays with it. My son has it all figured out.

He still prefers to be stood up and walk. He loves it when I hold his hands and let him walk around the room. He gets so excited he starts bouncing up and down on his legs, and then looses his balance. It is so cute! He also would prefer to be held by dad. He won't show his dad any of his tricks, he wants dad to hold him. And dad does hold him!

Changing a Tire

Here's the thing. You can imagine the worst situations that you would have to change a flat tire in. Mine, and it actually happened, was a Christmas morning on the freeway in the pouring rain while I was in my Christmas clothing. And then something happens to change your mind.

This morning, I got Nicholas into his carseat, and got the car moving to take him to daycare. And then....I heard the thump, thump that meant I had a flat tire. I figured it would be easy to change it. Boy was I wrong.

I have said a million times that doing anything with a baby takes 15 more minutes (at least) and triples the difficulty because you have to keep the baby happy while you are doing whatever it is you are doing. Imagine changing a tire with a baby.

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been the tire that was under his carseat.

It got to the point I just drove home and called Jon (my husband) to come and change it. We both ended up being late for work - but my tire got changed :) It was much easier with two people. Simply put - I had the baby and Jon had the tire. A split of responsibility.

So I am just saying - if you ever get a flat with a baby in the car...be prepared for a monsterous task.

Nicholas' First Tie

So Nicholas wore his first tie on Sunday. It was very cute on him. He was adorable.




He liked his tie so much, that as soon as I put it on him - he ate it. Not suprising. He loves the ties the men at church wear. If someone is close enough, he is going to grab that tie and eat it. His dad suffers through this because I suffer through having him grab my necklaces all the time (but I wear them so he can grab them).




But sadly, his tie only lasted for 2 hours. Then he was so slobbery (teething) that it had to come off. There is only so much damage one tie can stand.

The cool thing was finding them. I was unable to find any ties for baby boys (well at least smaller than an 8 year old) and I was almost giving up. Then I wandered into The Children's Place, and they had 5 different ties (I only got 3) for kids. I got the 24 month - 4T size, since that's about what he is now - or will be by next week. They are so adorable.

It was so much fun to see him wearing the tie. I loved it.

My Wonderful Eater

I just want to say - Nicholas is a huge eater.

He can down a ton of bottles, and solids during the day. Then he wakes up so early so that he can eat again because he is hungry. Sometimes I call him a punk when he does this, because it is so early in the morning. But he is so hungry. I certainly hope he is growing upwards - otherwise he is going to grow outwards pretty quickly :)

He eats bread, bagels, fruits, some veggies, cerreal, cheerios, crackers, teething cookies, pudding, and all kinds of mashed things. He eats mashed bananas - which I find disgusting. But he likes them.

He is simply a wonderful eater. Unless he's tired and then he doesn't eat so well.

Top 10 Favorite Games of the Wunderlichs

Here is our "Top 10" list of games we like to play.

10. Yahtzee
9. Mexican Train Dominos
8. Sorry
7. Monopoly
6. Five Crowns
5. Quiddler
4. Life
3. Phase 10
2. Hand and Foot
1. Settlers of Catan (and associated expansion games)

Not that we don't like other games, but those are the top 10.

My Sister Is Getting Married!

Finally - a date has been set. I was begining to think it was never going to happen.

My sister is getting married 8/8/09. How much cooler would 8/8/08 have been? But I guess that I don't get to choose.

She and her fiancee (Wayne) have been living in the basement (they have fixed it up so it is like a small apartment) of my mom and grandma's house. Together. And my mom and grandmother are very traditional Catholics. But now, they are getting married.

Everyone is very relieved that it is finally happening.

My sister now says that the biggest challenge will be to get Wayne to the wedding in a suit and not a Hawaiian print shirt and khakis.

California Science Academy

So on Monday my mom and us went to the new Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. It was so great! We got there at 9:30 when it opened, so there was still parking in the garage. Otherwise you have to find parking on the surface streets of Golden Gate Park - and that can be hazardous. We got in line for our tickets and went in.

The first thing we did was to get Planetarium tickets for me and Jon. They give them out on a first-come first-served basis. The shows are every hour. So we got tickets at 9:50 for the 11:30 showing. We got the last tickets to the 11:30 showing. I guess that means people like going to the Planetarium. It isn't suggested for kids under 6 - too much lights, movement and sounds. So my mom stayed with Nicholas.

Then we wandered around and saw some of the eveolution exhibits. We went into the kids play area, but it was for kids who were older than Nicholas, so we didn't stay. Then we went to the rainforest exhibit.

It was so cool. All these animals, trees, plants and cool looking birds and butterflys. Nicholas would talk to the butterflys. He got excited when he saw all the fish in the bottom. It was pretty neat. At the top of the exhibit you take an elevator down to the bottom floor (the Aquarium area) and you walk through this tunnel that goes under the pool at the bottom of the rain forest. There are benches you can sit on in the tunnel. It was pretty neat.

You have to stand in line to go into the rainforest because they only let a certain number of people go in at a time. The line goes fast. we put our time in the line to good use and fed Nicholas solids in his stroller.

By this time Nicholas was hungry again, so Jon found a place to sit and feed him and my mom and I went through all the fish exhibits. They were neat. There was a touch and feel tidepool area that would be great for older kids. But some areas are pretty closed in, so it can get VERY loud. I am glad we didn't take Nicholas into those parts, he doesn't like loud noises.

We saw the albino alligator and all the fun exhibits on the first floor. They have all kinds of Aquarium exhibits on the first floor that they have paths through and over. There is a shallow seas exhibit that you walk over and can see fish and sting rays from the shallow seas. It is neat.

Then we went to the Planetarium and left. We did it all in about 3 hours. If you have older kids, it will take longer because there is more stuff for them to do. Younger kids it takes less time. And if you are just adults, plan on having something else to do for the rest of the day.

It was a lot of fun, and I would recommend it to anyone.

What we didn't do: The 3D movie theater. The current showing was on bugs, and I had no desire to see it.