day date with my girl

Last week I took Blakely to Little Rock (about an hour away) so we could go to The Won.der Pla.ce.  I had heard great things about it and after how much fun she had at the birthday party a few weeks ago I just knew she would love it.  

It is designed for kids ages 8 and under.  So, just like Younger Years (where the b-day party was in my town) it caters to toddlers and smaller kids.  

We spent about 3 hours there and B would have stayed all day if I would have let her.  Here are a few highlights...

The ginormous water table.  She wanted to climb in it and I had to tell her no probably 30 times.  

The sand table.  I kept trying to steer her away from this.  Not because of the mess (oh the mess!) but because there was a group of 3 older girls that were meticulously building a sand castle and I could tell by the look in Blakely's eye that she wanted nothing more than to knock it down.  

They have a different type of art project each day and it was dot art on the day we were there.    It was also messy but she really liked it.  I wanted to buy the markers because they were so great but then I pictured dots all over my walls and thought better of it.  

She loved this little activity on the wall.  Different shapes with pegs on them that you can put in the little holes.  We spent a lot of time talking about shapes here and it was great for her fine motor skills.  She actually loved the lego wall next to this as well.  

Velcro wall.  I think the sound it made when she ripped them off the wall was the funniest for her.  

They also had a bunch of puzzles, a tree house with a slide, grocery store with all of the grocery items, a stage with dress up clothes and a vet clinic with all kinds of fake animals.  

When I finally got her to leave without a huge meltdown (bribed her with promises of macaroni and cheese and strawberries) we went to a local cafeteria to eat.  I love this little place and I remember going there by myself when I was in college for a change of studying scenery.  And yes...the food!  She ate her weight in mac and cheese and then forgot about the strawberries.  

She slept the whole way home and then went to bed early that night.  I guess I wore her out!  I love spending days like this with my girl and taking her to these fun places.  I can literally see her learning new things right in front of my eyes.  I look forward to going back very soon!