Utah Local: Treehouse Museum

Since Elisa is at girls' camp and Alexander was at Lagoon with the marching band, Sabrina and I had a fun day together yesterday. We drove up to Ogden and spent the day at the Treehouse Museum, a fun children's museum. I didn't tell her where we were going since she likes surprises. She kept asking me for clues, but she had never been there or even heard of it, so they didn't help. We listened to Imagination Movers and Shrek soundtracks all the way up. I was afraid that she wouldn't enjoy it since all she wanted to do was go to Lagoon like her brother.

The museum is right across the street from the temple. There are these painted horses all around downtown. For some reason, Sabrina thought most of them were creepy. There was a lot of parking around the museum, but I didn't like that it was only two hour parking. So every two hours, I had to stop Sabrina from whatever she was doing so we could go move the van to a different spot around the museum. Not a good way to keep people in the museum or the shops at The Junction around there if you ask me.

I think the prices are pretty good. $6 for children and $5 for adults, but you can print a $1 off coupon at the Treehouse Museum site.

There is a big "tree" in the middle of the museum that has a staircase you can climb in the middle of it up to the second floor of the museum.

There are lots of areas with dress-up fun and puppets, and many areas with books and spots to sit and read together.

There were lots of musical instruments, big and small, to play.

They have storytime and games you can play to win prizes. Sabrina and I won color-changing pencils in a game about Utah. (You put the pencil in the freezer and then when you take it out, the heat from your hand starts changing the color.)

There are lots of toys to play with, build, and create and many educational activities.

We didn't get through the day without Sabrina's moods. For some reason, after a while she didn't want to do anything in an area that had other children at all...in a crowded children's museum. She didn't want to ride this bull, but someone was on the horse. Then she got her turn.

This plastic cow had water in it that you could "milk" and she had a lot fun with that.

She especially loved the babies in the doctor's office.

She spent a lot of time in the arts area making cards for her brother and friends.

She dressed up like Martha Washington in the Oval Office. Don't tell her Martha never was in an oval office. There was a lot of educational information and games on the presidents, their wives, and on the states of the United States.

There are rooms of different countries and eras, a knights area with a giant chess game, an area with computers, so much fun.

We left at closing time and we were hungry. (There's no restaurant or cafeteria inside.) I let Sabrina choose where to go for dinner. She chose Panda Express so we drove around and found one. She was so happy. I still wasn't sure she was happy with the day until Alexander finally got home at almost midnight and Sabrina told him, "You can't guess what we did today. It was SO fun!" Yeah! I'm glad she enjoyed it and I had a lot of fun being with her. I think the museum is for young kids, but Alexander said that he wished he could have gone and would have had fun, although there is no doubt he'd chose Lagoon over the museum. Funny kids.