Pretend City...

~Life on the beat~

What an a-ma-zing place for kids! This was definitely the best Children's Museum I have ever been to. I love the one located just down the street from us, especially because I remember going to it as a kid, but Pretend City is just on a whole other level.

This past Thursday, Dakota and I met her friends there at 10am for a playdate. Dakota was sooo happy to see her bestest Gymboree buddies, especially since it had been so long since we had seen them. Plans for playdates kept falling through, and we've actually missed about 5 weeks of Gymboree. We didn't go the two weeks prior to our Hawaii trip because we wanted to avoid Dakota getting sick. And of course we missed the two weeks that we were actually in Hawaii. Now we're wondering if she's even gonna go the rest of the year because of swine flu.

Anyway, once we paid for our tickets, we were handed a time card and instructed on what to do with it. Basically, there are 7 areas within the city that all the little workers can report for duty at. At the end of their shift, they can take their time card to get stamped at the "clock-out" station. Once the time card is filled up with a stamp from each area, they can take it to the ATM to cash it. Pretty neat concept if you ask me!

When we first walked into the "city," all three kids ran straight for the cars. Unfortunately, there were only two there at the time, so Dakota had to wait her turn. She tried her best to squeeze her tiny booty in the seat, but it just wasn't happening!!

After the joyriding, the kids were off to farmville. Don't get excited my fellow facebookers. LOL. Dakota had a great time digging in the dirt (foamies) and planting carrots. She also loved picking the tomatoes, apples, and strawberries, then placing them in a basket.

Our little farmer...

After Dakota was through with all her hard labor at the farm, she headed over to the police station to offer up her dispatching skills. She loved sitting there in the dispatch tower answering all the calls and pressing all the buttons. I think the whole police thing is in her blood because after her shift was over at dispatch, she signed up for an overtime shift at the PD and hit the mean streets of Pretend City. I swear the girl SOOO looked the part. It's like she sat there on the corner monitoring traffic. LOL. I have to say, this made me so proud to see.

Working dispatch...

Watch out, it's the Five-O!!!

Once Dakota's shift ended at the PD and she met her "quoto" of tickets (5 jaywalking, 10 stop sign violations, and 4 speeding...one of which was given to Brayden!), it was time to head home. And I don't mean "our" home. This one was much cooler, and just the right size! She had a great time playing in the kitchen and bedrooms. It was so funny to see her run into one of the bedrooms and lay down on the bed like she was truly beat after a hard days work. It amazes me how much personality this kid has in her! She is so dramatic in the first picture. haha!

After a little rest at "home," it was time to do a little clean up at the beach. Dakota loved this concept and had a great time picking up the trash and throwing it away in the trash can. I mean, she went into a total OCD frenzy with the whole litter pickup. Although, I think it more had to do with picking up the balls (aka, trash) and throwing them into the trash can. Cleaning up her toys at home has become a fun activity thanks to Gymboree, so I'm guessing this was fun too...

After beach cleanup, we headed over to the water tables where the kids had fun splashing around and playing with all the water toys. It was cute to see them all together in their little smocks. Although, Dakota still walked away soaked!! Oh well...

It was eventually time to report back to work, this time at the post office. Dakota did a great job sorting mail, and whatever else postal workers do. She even mailed off some of her own letters Luckily, she had a great time and didn't go postal (or in her case, have a meltdown). Yes, I realize that was cheesy. =)

Mailing off some letters...

It was eventually time to do a little shopping at the local grocery store to stock up on groceries. Dakota walked around a bit, then found a basket and hit the produce aisle. There was so much to choose from, but Dakota was content with the strawberries. She put about 20 of them in her basket before heading to the cash register.

After the grocery store, Dakota wanted to go back to the farm to do some more farming. I guess picking the strawberries at the store reminded her of the ones she saw on the farm earlier, because that's what she ran to first, and began picking. Good memory!!

Dakota then wanted to show off her mad cooking skills at the local restaurant. I threw on her cooking hat and before I knew it, she was whipping us up something good!! What it was, I don't know, but she had a great time stirring, pour, mixing, shaking and sprinkling everything that was there in front of her. This place held nothing back when it came to the details and props needed for the different areas. I was really impressed. So, here's our little chef hard at work...

The very last thing Dakota did was go in for a checkup at the health center. She's no stranger to this place! Although, this time, she was actually allowed to touch things and get into whatever she wanted. And she didn't even need to get shots!! Of all the fun things at the doctor's office, I think she really liked the stethoscope. You should have seen her face when I put it up to her chest. She also really liked the giant too brush and enormous mouth. She picked that brush up and started scrubbing away...

Dakota's SOOO big!

At the end of our visit, it was finally time to cash in that hard earned paycheck! We headed over to the ATM and pulled out all the money she had earned. Apparently, Dakota is the breadwinner of the family because she made more money in one day than mommy and daddy do put together. Hehe.