Ocean of Balls

While Emma and Adam attend a  camp in DC this week, Ellie and I are exploring the town every day while they're there!  Our first stop today was to the National Building Museum, where they have a special exhibit called, "The Beach."   Except it has nothing to do with water.   

It's a ginormous ball pit designed to resemble a beach.   It starts shallow and gets gradually deeper and they even have floaties, lifeguards, and beach chairs.  

We  "swam"....

and jumped around in the balls.   

Luckily we had arrived to the exhibit right as it opened, so we had some to enjoy the balls before it got busy.   After a while though, it got really crowded to the point of it starting to feel somewhat overwhelming.  And I freaked out anytime Ellie dipped her head under the balls in fear that either someone would jump on her  or that she'd have a seizure and sink even deeper (especially since she was having a ton of them that day).   I think she was starting to get annoyed that I'd grab her arms every time her head dipped below the surface.  

Crowded as it was, I have to admit that  I was  quite surprised (and somewhat delighted) when I looked over and saw a dog enjoying a little dip in the ocean of balls as well...

He was a service dog belonging to a blind man, and it was actually really cool to observe their interactions together.... 

but it was shortly thereafter that we decided it was time to go.   

It's hard work playing in a ball pit and we came out with sore muscles and scrapes and bruises on our legs.   But it was a fun memory and I loved the mommy-daughter time that we got to enjoy!    

Stay tuned for more DC adventures to come....

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ADDENDUM:   

Cami didn't come along for our ball pit adventure, but went the very next day with her friends (Katy and Matt).  

Here are her pictures:  

After they were finished at the ball pit, they headed to a portrait gallery where they found pictures of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.