It is a winner!

A few years ago my sister in Law came up with a system of for rating toys called joy units.  She used this in terms of Christmas but it can be applied all year long for a full discussion of Joy units please see the following link: http://parentingfrontline.blogspot.com/2007/12/grinch-lives-here.html The reason I bring it up is because this week we scored  BIG with joy units.  I had taken Anna to a local indoor adventure play place called "Winkies" it is a really fun thing to do inside on a rainy day.  Cheaper than the pool and for Anna she can stay as long as she wants for under 3 pounds.  Once we got to Winkies she seemed very unsure of the whole place, we went right when they opened.  It looked alright nothing too impressive, but after about 10 minutes Anna was hooked!  She had such a great time!  She loved the climbing and the slides and the ball pits, but her favorite thing was the little cars that you can get inside and "drive" (really be pushed by yours truly), she stayed in there for at least an hour ~ no joke.  When I finally decided to leave at lunch time after 2 hours of being there, she was not happy at all.  She was pretty easily distracted and fell asleep in the 5 minute drive home, slept for about 3 hours! I didn't get any pictures at Winkies but we went to another indoor adventure place (Kidzplay) and here are some pictures from there:

[flv:http://teammudgett.net/blog/media/video/ropesatobstaclecourse.AVI.FLV 320 240] Earlier in the week we had gone to an animal farm.  She is not too keen on the animals themselves but she loved the baby ride on tractors and cars, again not wanting to get off. This is the bravest she has been with animals to date: [flv:http://teammudgett.net/blog/media/video/withbabybunny.AVI.FLV 320 240]   Here are some videos from the indoor play area at the farm [flv:http://teammudgett.net/blog/media/video/obstaclesandslideatfarm.AVI.FLV 320 240] [flv:http://teammudgett.net/blog/media/video/excitedtogodownslide.AVI.FLV 320 240] So, after these two experiences I got to thinking that she would probably really love to have a little car herself.  I try not to buy her too many toys (as we already have quite a few, not much room, and for many other reasons).  But, I decided to check on Ebay and see what I could come up with.  I found a great little 4 wheeler with a parent handle (so I can push without leaning over).  It was located in york just 30 minutes away.  I decided to place a bid, we won it for just under 7 pounds  or two trips to Winkies!  Well, when we picked it up (Sat morning), we let Anna go for a ride around the neighborhood where we bought it.  She cried when she got off and we had to put it in the trunk.  Then we went off to the National Railway Museam, which is kind of like the new air and space museum near Dulles airport, only for trains of course.  Neither Drew nor I are very interested in trains but it was still a really neat museum.  It has all kinds of trains.  They even had a story time, which Anna learned some motions from and loves doing now.  Then there was the miniature train ride which was a blast as well.  All the while, Anna was able to ride around the museum with her new wheels.  We all had a great day. When we got home, Drew needed a nap after a long week, Anna was too excited to nap.  So,  Anna and I played downstairs.  What did she do you might ask?  She climbed onto and off of her new car and moved different parts around for 3 hours!!!  Then we took it for a spin outside to the neighbors house, who invited us in, but Anna was not about to get off of her bike merely to visit a friend. [flv:http://teammudgett.net/blog/media/video/onhernewcar.AVI.FLV 320 240] [flv:http://teammudgett.net/blog/media/video/gettingonandoffbike.AVI.FLV 320 240] On Sunday we had much more of the same completely in love with her bike.  So I would say this bike has been worth at least 50 joy units for less than 7 pounds!  Great deal if I do say so myself.