OK, so maybe in my last post about the CML my frustration should have been directed more towards the pressing-the-limits-of-the-fire-code-capacity throngs of hellions than actually at the CML itself. I have since then visited it a number of times when it has been occupied by about a 97th of the poeple there, and it is really quite an enjoyable place. It's the perfect place to go on these days when the thermometer is just a little bit low to take the children to a playground to let them enjoy nature's beauty. And even though the weather was beautiful today (hardly a cloud in sight), this is actually the best day to go to the CML because not everyone else in the tricounty area has decided to take theor children there. The crowd was thin at best. Perfect for us.
As soon as we got there, we went into the "gardens" and ate lunch. I use this term loosely because, at this time of year, it was hard to distinguish between the gardens and the parking lot. The boys were all well behaved, and with a little sugary prodding, even waited around for the slower ones to finish. (And miracle of miracles, Reeves was not the last to finish!) 
Of course, we worked our way through the ball room to the water room, still my least favorite room in the place, but other than Bennett and Pinckney dumping a couple of boatfuls of water on themselves, the boys and their clothes all remained happily unsoaked. 
In natural progression, we moved on to the shrimp boat, my favorite room. It is incredibly fun for the children and requires the least amount of parental supervision. Love it! 
B and P gave it the old college try and then decided they would rather grocery shop. So CFS stayed with the older ones, and I followed the littles into the Publix. And herein lies the key to having a truly enjoyable experience at the CML. You MUST go with another adult if you are bringing a number of children who fall into different age ranges. 
Inevitably, your four year old is not going to want to do the same things your 18 month old is, and unless you have the freedom to leave one or the other with someone else, you are certainly going to make at least one, if not both, of your children extremely unhappy.
Although, you could have a day like Bennett where you pretty much just wanted to sample each room for six minutes before either moving on or going back. Needless to say, while P was shopping, I was playing Pong with B and his shopping carts. At one point, being now fully discouraged that he could not simply bowl me over with his miniature cart laden with plastic fruit and loaves of bread, my brilliant child decided to crawl under my legs and try to drag his cart through. One of these days, Alice! Anyway, the Toddler Room thankfully solved pretty much all his problems. Caroline shortly arrived to tend to Soup, while the oldest two continued to man the shrimp ship. This is where I am so proud of the way we have all raised and trained our children thus far in their short little lives. 
At this point, Bennett was DUN. When I went to check on R and F, I could hear him crying. They still wanted to play on the boat (I think the wellies they put on really drew them in), and they had done so well all day and have proved themselves worthy of relatively unsupervised play in the past, that I left them to play while I dealt with Bennett. I was so proud of both of them. There was not one scuffle, not one cross word. 
They were blissfully lost in their world of make believe adventures on the high seas, catching shrimp and taking care of sick turtles. Even when Caroline and I came out and gave them the five minute warning, they happily obliged and made the most of those last moments of play, a marked improvement to falling on the floor and crying that it is almost time to go home, wasting what little time they had left.
Of course, we worked our way through the ball room to the water room, still my least favorite room in the place, but other than Bennett and Pinckney dumping a couple of boatfuls of water on themselves, the boys and their clothes all remained happily unsoaked. In natural progression, we moved on to the shrimp boat, my favorite room. It is incredibly fun for the children and requires the least amount of parental supervision. Love it! B and P gave it the old college try and then decided they would rather grocery shop. So CFS stayed with the older ones, and I followed the littles into the Publix. And herein lies the key to having a truly enjoyable experience at the CML. You MUST go with another adult if you are bringing a number of children who fall into different age ranges. Inevitably, your four year old is not going to want to do the same things your 18 month old is, and unless you have the freedom to leave one or the other with someone else, you are certainly going to make at least one, if not both, of your children extremely unhappy. Although, you could have a day like Bennett where you pretty much just wanted to sample each room for six minutes before either moving on or going back. Needless to say, while P was shopping, I was playing Pong with B and his shopping carts. At one point, being now fully discouraged that he could not simply bowl me over with his miniature cart laden with plastic fruit and loaves of bread, my brilliant child decided to crawl under my legs and try to drag his cart through. One of these days, Alice! Anyway, the Toddler Room thankfully solved pretty much all his problems. Caroline shortly arrived to tend to Soup, while the oldest two continued to man the shrimp ship. This is where I am so proud of the way we have all raised and trained our children thus far in their short little lives. At this point, Bennett was DUN. When I went to check on R and F, I could hear him crying. They still wanted to play on the boat (I think the wellies they put on really drew them in), and they had done so well all day and have proved themselves worthy of relatively unsupervised play in the past, that I left them to play while I dealt with Bennett. I was so proud of both of them. There was not one scuffle, not one cross word. They were blissfully lost in their world of make believe adventures on the high seas, catching shrimp and taking care of sick turtles. Even when Caroline and I came out and gave them the five minute warning, they happily obliged and made the most of those last moments of play, a marked improvement to falling on the floor and crying that it is almost time to go home, wasting what little time they had left. 
And as the final cap to a great playdate, when I returned to my car, there was not a ticket on it, even though my meter had expired. Thank you, Jodie, for convincing me to get this membership, and thank you, Caroline, for joining me and mine today. 
2 comments:
We had a FABULOUS time... truly one of my most enjoyable experiences at the CML. Thanks for taking the pictures and thanks for a GREAT playdate.
Glad you had a better experience. We were there today and I did not have such good luck with my meter which was broken not expired. $14?
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