Kidspace: A Place to Stretch Her Wings

If it feels like we've been celebrating Meilani's 2nd birthday for weeks, we have. This was part of our effort not to make her birthday party too big and too overwhelming this year. That meant we had several groups of friends to celebrate with at different times - not to mention family. Last week we headed down to Ontario outside Los Angeles to hang out with Uncle Paul, Auntie Michelle and Baby Cynthia. On Tuesday, the boys headed out for a Birthday Deep Sea Fishing Trip (a present to my dad and Ericlee from their April birthdays). Meanwhile, the girls headed to a museum to help Meilani celebrate her twos. Kidspace is a cool museum in Pasadena with lots of creative, hands-on exhibits for little ones. We started out in the Early Childhood Center for Story time.
This stories-high climbing tower is at the center of Kidspace. It's a safe way for little ones to explore and climb on their own. Believe it or not, our climbing monkey Meilani declared it too high for even her. Go figure.
Next stop: The Trike Tracks. This very cool race track included trikes of all shapes and sizes for the kids to ride. There was even a roadway painted on the cement with stop and go signs. Everyone had their own personal helmet too!

Here we pause near the rainbow tile wall for a quick girls' pic with Auntie Michelle. Kidspace is really geared toward imaginative outdoor play. We enjoyed walking through the gardens.

One stop in the garden was this cool climbing wall. Meilani tried this one out. She wanted wasn't afraid to go up, up, up and then jump into Mama's arms! (Not exactly rock climbing technique...)



For Wednesday, Meilani's actual birthday, we all took a trip to a local park where they had a beautiful pond with ducks and turtles, a huge play area with sand and a walking trail.

Meilani shared her birthday sand toy from Auntie Mary and Uncle Tonio with the kids at the park. She taught them how to do it - such a 2-year-old thing. After a little urging, she was even content to share.

Daddy took Meilani over to the little "dining area" where she cooked up some pretend "hot soup" and "chicken." She drew designs in the sand while the rest of us enjoyed some relaxed, quality family time.

Back at the house, Meilani opened up a few more gifts, including a tempera paint set with special brushes and anti-spill cups. (Can you tell Auntie Shel is a teacher?) These were perfect to go with the new easel Nana and Papa got her for her birthday. How coordinated. And our growing 2-year-old had a chance to spread her wings.