While it's really special to be able to do things with Ethan every day, I really love those days when Ellie gets to join in the fun. As she's growing up, I definitely do miss all of the hours that I got to spend with her before her formal schooling began. However, one can't sit by and pine for the days of yonder. Instead, it's time to make new memories and have new experiences to look back on. You know, like finally making that long awaited trip to Moon Marble Company.
Ellie had been really excited to go to Moon Marble Company for quite some time. Unfortunately, the last time I promised to take her coincided with me coming down with a 48-hour stomach bug. However, I promised to make it up to her by taking her when she was off school on Martin Luther King Day. Therefore, as soon as I verified that the store was open and that there would be someone there making marbles, it was time to load up and head to Bonner Springs.
Now, Moon Marble isn't just a marble factory. It's actually a full vintage toy store. Once we arrived, the first thing we did was start checking out the toy store section of the building. Of course, Ellie and Ethan wanted to touch every single bucket of marbles located at the front of the store which resulted in more than a few falling out of the buckets and landing on the ground. Luckily, there was no employee in the front of the store at that moment so there were no angry looks or frustrated sighs from employees.
Soon enough, I was able to shoo them out of the front room and into a back room of the building where we began looking at high-priced custom marbles. At this point, "Don't touch" and "Look with your eyes, not your hands" became constant refrains spouting forth from my mouth. Some of their favorites included one designed to look like the planet Earth as well as a collection of animal-themed marbles nestled upon a replica of Noah's Ark. From there, Ellie and I found our way to another room which housed a 3-foot-long game of Mancala with large, polished stones for game pieces. As Mancala is one of our favorite games, it was only fitting that we played a round. Yours truly took the win, in case you're wondering.
Not long after we finished our game, it was time to watch a demonstration showing how marbles are made. The kids and I took our places front and center on a series of bleachers, where we were soon joined by Ellie's friend, Paul, and his parents. Then it was time to watch a marble be made. The craftsman started with several pieces of black glass and slowly shaped it into a ball over a torch. Then, he began adding crushed pieces of colored glass to it to provide a symphony of color before shaping the marble one final time and putting it inside a kiln to slowly cool. The kids were absolutely enthralled by the entire process with both Ellie and Ethan offering a running commentary of everything they were seeing.
Once our demonstration was completed, it was time for us to leave Moon Marble Company. However, we had one more series of stops before we could head home. Since DFA was on our way home, it was only fitting that we stop and eat lunch with Bethany. Therefore, we picked her up and headed to Panda Express for a quick lunch of tasty Chinese where Ellie and Ethan talked her ear off while sharing everything about their morning at Moon Marble. Once our lunch was finished, we then went across the street to Aldi where we bought a package of cookies to share for dessert. After that, it was time to drop Bethany off and head for home.
Whenever the kids and I have an adventure like this, I never quite know exactly how much they enjoyed it. According to Bethany though, the kids absolutely loved it. At bedtime last night, they wanted her to stay in the room with them for five minutes while they fell asleep. Instead of falling asleep though, they proceeded to talk her ear off again about everything they saw at Moon Marble Company. I'd say that's a good sign that they enjoyed themselves plenty.
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