Yesterday morning Bella and I met my brother- and sister-in-law and their kids at the The North Shore Children’s Museum in downtown Salem. A good time was had by all.
My nieces, Kateri (6) and Chiara (4) had fun playing dress up (What girl can resist beautiful princess dresses?) and making pinwheels. Isabella loved crawling around and exploring a new space, pushing a wagon full of Legos, watching the other kids play, and chasing her cousin Joshua (2) around—he was pushing a shopping cart she wanted.
I enjoyed watching the kids and chatting with my sister in law. And it was nice to have a little excursion from the house. I tend to be a real homebody and will sometimes go for weeks with no trips except to the grocery store and post office and not seeing anyone but Dom and Bella. But a break from routine can also be a good thing.
The Children’s Museum is run by the Salem YMCA and is not fancy and shiny-new. I saw some negative reviews online that complained about the worn-out toys and general shabbiness. But you know, kids don’t notice such things. I would say that it’s less of a museum than a fun, inexpensive play place for the 2-6 crowd. The educational activities definitely took second place to the “just for fun” stuff and weren’t the same quality as say the Boston Science Museum; but it’s much closer and it was free for adults and for kids under 1 so all I paid for was the parking meter.
