giving thanks for the point

one of our favorite local places to visit over the years has been thanksgiving point. it has so much to do and see especially for the kids. we have been to the petting zoo, all the cute shops, and even seen the reindeer at Christmas. this weekend we decided to take justin's mom up to discover some of our favorite spots, and one we had yet to check out.

first stop was the dinosaur museum (I am sure it has a much cooler actual name, but that's what we call it). we had never been there before and were excited to take cole.

there were so many fun things for him to see and explore.

ali liked all the eye candy too!

it was so nice to have an extra pair of hands to chase kids.

this was a fun activity. kids could build a dino using all the velcro parts...

I guess I should specify that it's not just for kids. notice though that justin was not following instructions...yeah, that's a leg, in it's mouth...such a boy.

a BIG hit for cole was the erosion table.

water. dirt. toys. what's not to love?

once again, fun for all ages. this time justin followed directions.

meanwhile ali snuggled with her nana.

and we eventually pried cole away from the dirt...and onto a dinosaur.

and then...

he found the this!

and the conversation went like this:

"what does he eat cole?"

"macamoni"
(yeah that's macaroni, but he has called it this since he first learned to talk and it just kinda stuck in our house lingo.)

then the last thing you see is a "dig site" where kids can be little archeologists.

after escaping the gift shop with a small toy for justin and cole, we headed to the gardens.

they have a pond with fish food to feed the fish with. cole was fascinated by these things...as was ali. she started laughing and pointing when they toppled over each other to get the coveted food pellet.

we love this place. and know it well. in fact this should have been the place. for those of you who never heard the story. one of justin's buddies let it leak to his wife who was one of my best friends, that after our long courtship justin was going to propose here a certain weekend...yeah, didn't happen and it was almost the end of our story...oh the drama.

now 2 kids later we look back and laugh about it. so we had to take a picture in the spot that has been "our spot" where the proposal never happened.

it was soooo hot and we were melting, so not the cutest picture of all time, but too important to leave out of the post.

then we headed to the discovery gardens for kids. basically a quaint little place to cool off.

and of course as always cole found...

a girl.

and our little girl found the water.

and loved it!

and I will let coles face speak for itself.

it was a BUSY BUSY day, with a picnic thrown in the middle.

it was so fun to enjoy the day together.