On Saturday, we took a drive up to Wilmington to visit the Delaware Children’s Museum.

Now, I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Children’s Museum. Oh, except for the Tulsa Children’s Museum, which felt more like a drafty warehouse with some sad old toys in it than a “museum” – though the kids had a marvelous time there, so I’m not sure I should be judging. But anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that I don’t have much to go on, but the Delaware Children’s Museum is frickin’ AWESOME.

From the outside, I admit, it looks a bit Tulsa-ish in its boxy warehouseyness.

The color might not have fooled anyone, but the cool signage sure got the kids excited.

They were slightly concerned/terrified when they encountered one of the decals on the side of the building, meant, perhaps, to suggest “fun” – unless, of course, it was meant to suggest that the museum was full of giant kids who would scrutinize you.

Matthew assured them that the kids inside were all regular-sized, and so we headed in, albeit with some trepidation.

The first thing we saw inside was the massive and gorgeous climbing sphere, and that the kids inside were, indeed, regular-sized. I have no idea what to call this contraption, but I spent the whole time we were in it trying to calculate just how much it would cost for me to recreate it in the barn.

Made of wire netting, curvy boards and wiggly crawl-spaces, this alone was worth the trip.

Alden immediately jumped in and headed for the top. Kato was a little more cautious.

Now, he didn’t exactly say that he needed my company, but I couldn’t resist going along.

Mere minutes after this photo was taken, Kato had gotten all the way through the sphere and was escaping down the stairway to places distant while I crawled around and around and around trying to find my way out.

He was headed, of course, after Alden, who had escaped earlier, and who had already discovered the foam block pit.

There’s nothing like rolling around in a padded pit with a bunch of foam blocks and your sister.

Or so I’ve heard.

And so August heard, though he was skeptical.

Being only recently ambulatory, he became quite familiar with both the pros and cons of wading through big chunks of foam, with only big chunks of foam to break your fall.

Soon enough, he discovered the true joys of foam.

And was promptly removed from the pit because of it.

In the meantime, Kato had moved on to doing some plastic cone and rod sculpture.

He definitely has the eye of an artist:

And the attitude:

Having witnessed the creation of the perfect sculpture, we all moved on. Alden, to dancing, a favorite pastime of hers, even when there isn’t a TV projecting a video of her dancing with various backgrounds.

I joined in, suckered by the promise of being put on TV.

This basically happens to me every time I get in front of a security camera. But what can I say – the two of us put on a pretty good show.

Kato and August were less interested in dancing and more interested in getting wet. There’s a great water feature with boats and bridges and pumps and locks and pipes and tubes and sprinklers. Kato liked the boats.

And the valves.

August basically just liked the water.

Alden skipped right over playing in the water and went straight to fishing (she’s just warming up to the family business). This is what fishing looks like if you’re too short to reach over the banister with your fishing pole.

It turns out Alden and Kato are both excellent fishermen.

The display was really cool – you could take your fish, compare it to pictures and descriptions of a number of varieties of local fish, and then decide to save your fish for dinner or put it in the catch and release bin. Though on this occasion Kato opted for the catch and release bin:

you would not believe how many fish we were planning on eating for dinner.

And more than a few times, our fishing lines came up with odd bits of detritus, which were not fish-like at all.

As much as Kato wanted to save the coke cans for dinner, I managed to convince him to recycle.

Up next was some auto mechanics. Kato changed a tire:

Checked the oil:

Pimped out his ride with some fireball decals:

And felt a great sense of accomplishment:

While Alden suited up for some serious construction. The first lesson in construction is safety first:

The second lesson in construction is to choose your crew wisely:

The third lesson in construction is to keep greenhorns away from the construction area:

No matter how confident they seem:

And the fourth lesson in construction is that you can’t count on Dad to fix anything once the baby destroys it.

Though he seems to be foreman material, he’s clearly in cahoots with the demolitions expert:

The final stop was the investigation station, where you could take a magnifying glass and scrutinize the flora and fauna.

Or, better yet, scrutinize each other.

After a few hours of non-stop interactive fun, the kids might not have looked like the giants advertised on the outside of the building, but I sure think they felt like it.

Matthew and I, on the other hand, had to end the fun and call it a day on account of us feeling so small, and trampled, and exhausted. Methinks that decal on the front of the building was less a promise to kids and more a warning to parents.

Either way, it was a smash hit, and we plan to go again and again and again.

Thanks, DCM, for a great weekend adventure!