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Getting Imaginative At ImaginOn

Due to our hot one minute and rainy the next weather here in the Queen  City, the kiddies and I haven’t been able to get out of the house much.  However, the Mr came up with a great idea for me to take the kiddies Uptown last Saturday.  The goal was to stay out of house for 8 whole hours.  Yes, you read correct.  
At first, I thought it was going to be tough having the kids out of house for that long.  I wondered if JJ would get cranky around nap time and Moo can be handful when she wants to do.  She’s trying to be more assertive and test her independence so to speak.  And that doesn’t always make for good outings.  I’m not one to back down from a challenge and really missed being Uptown.
We decided to let Moo and JJ enjoy the day at ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center.  This place is awesome!  Seriously, I wish I would have had access to something like this in my hometown growing up.  It’s a partnership of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library and the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.  And there’s all sorts of things for kids as young as infants all the way up to teens to do.
The first thing Moo wanted to do was check out the Arthur’s World exhibit.  She absolutely loves Arthur.  And you would have thought she had seen President Obama the way she was hopping around shouting “Mommy, can we go see Arthur?  Can we go?”  I’m not one to say no when it comes to exploring educational things.  So, off we went to enjoy the exhibit before it got crowded.
Arthur’s kitchen
Now there were two day camps there, but ImaginOn had it set to where from 10-Noon, no groups or organizations could tour the exhibit.  It was strictly open to families only during those hours.  I appreciated that because there’s nothing like trying to keep up with your two kids without hovering over them in a crowded area.  Moo and JJ got to cook in the kitchen with Arthur and DW until their hearts were content.  Also in the exhibit was a library, a green screen where you could be in your own episode of Arthur, a classroom complete with desks and a chalkboard, a camping section and a felt board
Another one of Moo’s favorites at ImaginOn were the touch screen computers.  She’s used to the touch screens thanks to having used the iPad and my iPhone.  A lot of the other kids her age were confused at first because they couldn’t find a mouse, but not my little darling.  She’s quite the opposite.  She will have no clue what to do with a computer mouse because the Mr and I both have laptops and we’re looking into getting a family desktop that will be touch screen as well.
She got to work on her alphabet, cook with Dora and more.  Oh, while we’re talking about touch screens, they had iPads setup throughout the ImaginOn that kids could play with.  They were stocked with games that  were perfect for teaching math, spotting differences and more.  JJ wasn’t a fan of the computers or the iPads.
Of course, JJ had a meltdown around noon and we headed off to the BB&T Center to have lunch our favorite fast food restaurant, McDonald’s!  I forgot that I should have walked around and entered through the parking garage to take the elevator since I had the double stroller, but we made it up the two sections of stairs without any accidents.  They had set up a farmer’s market outside.  Moo is crazy about fresh fruit.  So, I got her a peach and this fruit that looks like a plum on steroids.  I forgot the name of it but it was good.
We walked around a bit and took in the sites.  I talked to Moo about my college days of living Uptown in my dorm.  Then we headed back to ImaginOn to continue exploring.  We got to check out an interactive fossil class and dig for shark teeth and shell fossils in fossil dirt from the ocean!
I spotted the really cool lamp above and I’m now obsessed with finding one to place in the living room.  All in all it was a great day.  I’m really proud of myself and the kids.  I didn’t know if we could go a whole 8 hours away from our comforts of home, but we made it.  Most of all, I love that the kids got to get creative and imaginative.  They got to escape to different worlds for a few hours and I got to watch.  It was amazing and magical!