Oakland: Bay Area Discovery Museum

While the Bay Area Discovery Museum is not really in Oakland, but rather Sausalito, I call it Oakland because the reason I am here is those cute kids who live in Oakland. Regardless of where is is located, the Bay Area Discovery Museum is just about the coolest place I've ever been with a kid, or kids as the case may be. I can remember years ago taking my kids to the Los Angeles Children's Museum and thinking it was cool, but this place puts LA's wimpy museum to shame. And apparently this is the largest children's museum in the world and emulated by all those others that wish they were as cool as BADM. We got there early, and the kids played in the courtyard while we waited for the gates to open.

Once the doors opened, Rachel took the girls to the toddler area, which Parker is too old to visit. Parker showed me the way to the trains and we were lucky enough to have the room to ourselves for about a half an hour or so before other kids started dribbling in. Parker explained to me how the trains went together....

...then I explained to him how the trains crossed the water on the ferry, which he really liked. He did have to adjust the length of his train in order for it to fit on the ferry, but that did not seem to bother him. He was perfectly happy with a short train. His train never left the ferry, but rather traveled back and forth across the bay from dock to dock.

Across the room from the trains was a big boat and various fishing and crabbing opportunities. I took a bunch of photos while the kids played, but, man, you gotta be quick to get the cuteness, as Rachel told me. I am too lazy at the moment to fix the red eyes in some of the good ones, so I am including just a few at the moment, you can expect an update later.

They had a nice picnic area outside for lunching, and it was a beautiful day for it.

There was a crow's nest on the playground, and I was thoroughly impressed that both Elizabeth and Miranda could manage the assent and descent on their own. I was too nervous to take my eyes off of them for one minute to take pictures, but snapped a couple of Elizabeth when Rachel was nearby.

Rachel, bless her heart, is a glutton for punishment. After dealing with a painting afternoon the day before, she allowed the kids to enter the painting area. She knows they love it and the girls would have stayed as long as she let them.

Things remained civilized for awhile, but the paint was getting out of hand, so it was time for a break to wash up before going back for round two.

During round two, Miranda caught her eye with the brush. She looked like she was getting made up for some high fashion magazine.

Parker was done after a bit and opted to build something with the big foam blocks in another part of the room.

They had a special exhibit called

Play It By Ear

and Parker was decidedly into it. There were several displays in the room that made various sounds when manipulated, but the main attraction was this huge apparatus that had large bells positioned so that when small wooden balls were inserted into various shoots, they would gong the bells. Parker was certainly hip to the scene that his ball was making a sound and was very focused on watching it happen before he would quickly scramble to get another ball. I started helping by collecting five or six balls at a time, so he could did not have to run around and find them. It was fairly busy with kids and parents and a few times I had to be the adult who made kids take turns, which was fine, but wow it was really loud in there. Parker probably could have stayed there all day long. I was finally rescued by Rachel and the girls just about the time I thought I might be hearing those bells eternally in my head.



This was a totally great way to spend a day with kids, and I would love to go back again. Hats off to BADM, they really do it right, and a big thank you to Rachel and Michael for having such great kids to share it with.