the adventures of two brothers

Poor harry the second brother.  this photo seems to capture the knowing look of yes this is my toy and yes my big brother is playing with it instead of me.

waiting for a turn

today it was the leap frog learning table we pulled out of storage.  jude decided it worked better up high, which meant poor harry couldn't reach it without mom intervening.  i know one day soon they will be more equal playmates.  but for now its a lot of harry learning to wait and jude learning to play gentle.

future playmates

with harry starting to sleep through the night a little more often we are taking a few more adventures.  recently we went with grandma carole and uncle todd to the abraham lincoln presidential museum in springfield.  

the lincolns and the millers

I wish I could say it was a great time for the whole family, but honestly it was a not.
First the good- the exhibits are well done and informative.  The children's hands on discovery play area has old time wooden toys and of course, lincoln logs.
But overall the museum does not get my vote for bringing little kids. First of all I brought the double stroller. My plan was to recline harry and perhaps even jude and let them nap in comfort if they got sleepy.

in the double stroller until we got inside

But the museum does not allow double side to side strollers. instead you have to use a very simple hard plastic front and back double stroller- no tray, no recline, no cover.  That meant no easy napping and child meltdowns by about 12:30pm.  Second, the life-like people are throughout the museum and I think they creeped jude out a little bit.   Thirdly, we went the to the "Ghosts of the Library" theater show, the tamer of the two.  Unfortunately in the middle of the program there is one scary loud thunder clap and a group of ghosts appear.  Jude wailed a full minute afterward.  I also forgot the bit of Lincoln history that their three year old son died of an illness.  There was a gravestone and a room re-creating Lincoln's sick little boy.  In addition there is a dramatic, somewhat scary slave market scene inside the white house exhibit.   Again the museum is all well done and excellent history.  But I would not recommend it for a three year old.  Next time perhaps we'll try new salem, the pioneer village of lincoln's past.