monday at the madhouse ~ exploration

This weekend was one of discovery around town. On Friday, Nyberg and I took Ezra to a local nature center (it was a bazillion degrees out), where we ate a delicious take-out lunch and watched the outside bee hives and nature from the air-conditioned room surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows. Yeah. I'm a wimp in the heat. (One of the many reasons Miami was no good for me.)Besides the bees, Ezra loved watching the squirrels steal food from the bird feeders. Also, you can see here how successful he was with a blueberry smoothie in a regular cup and straw. Answer? Not very.After watching the nature outside, we went to the playroom to discover dress-up wings, puppet theaters, books, puzzles and aquariums filled with turtles, frogs and snakes. Of course he wanted the yellow wings.This was taken on the way back to the car. That smile melts my heart.Later that weekend, we all went to check out the new Vikings Stadium (which I'll show more of tomorrow). These are my boys seeing the field for the first time. No, we are not Vikings fans. But since our tax dollars were used to build this thing, we thought we should at least see it in person.This is the outside of it, in case you are unfamiliar. Hideous, in my opinion. However, I will say that the inside is filled with lots of gorgeous light since there are so many windows. I will also say that I fear for the many birds who will meet their maker by flying into said glass.Besides the field, the kid's favorite part might have been riding on the escalators.Oh, and the windows that looked out on the light rail tracks. As we all know, trains are very important to this one.After the stadium, we walked over to the Guthrie. The falls in the Mississippi were super fast that day!Here Ez is waiting for the elevator. I don't know why, but he looks like such a big kid to me here.We went up to the Amber Room to explore, and Ezra loved the window that looks down at the ground far below. Jamie and I are far too wimpy to play around on that glass, so I loved this photo of him tentatively testing the floor.And, you know, I just love shots like these.And as we left, Ez insisted on riding the escalator on his own (not being carried). So here he is.