Our last outing of the summer...

Now knowing what to expect, Heather and I packed up the car, the boys, the lunches and headed to Salem to check out the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village. I'd heard about, but still didn't know what was in store. Pictures won't do it justice because it's just too cool to try to fit it into a picture. We had a ball, the boys did too, and we just wish it wasn't so far.



Evan enjoyed making HUGE bubbles in the bubble room and then I had my hand at it too. FUN!

Evan was a parrot in the Rain forest Theater room. Pierce had the Safari hat on but was in and out of it so fast, I didn't get a pic!

Evan later told me that the submarine was his favorite part. This wasn't really a sub, just a room the size of a closet that was dark, had buttons, and a steering wheel. Hey, that give me an idea for HIS closet! That would be easy enough to make! He thought it was GREAT!

So the scoop behind A.C. Gilbert, as we learned is that not only was he an Olympian, but also an inventor who had 150 patents at the time of his death. His fame came from inventing the Erector set, a microscope, S gauge train, and much more.

The room with the train layout was pretty cool and this is where both Evan and Pierce wanted to come back for their last 10 minutes of the day.

Our friend Kip's layout is neat, but it doesn't have this bubble look-out room.

There's Mrs. Rike in A.C.'s backyard. It was hard to picture 20,000 sq. feet of outdoor play space until we were there, and then it was hard to capture a picture of it!

Look closely and you'll see 2 little boys in the Erector Set Maze! The boys loved this and the 2 story slide that is on the back side! I heard it is DARK in there!

FUN day. I'd go again for sure. Just wish it was closer! We lucked out in having a day with mild temperatures and very visitors. We mostly had the place to ourselves!