Finding God's Grace: The Indianapolis Children's Museum

Grace liked the Indianapolis Children's Museum as much as the boys did years ago, except she definitely had different favorites than the boys...the Barbie Experience and Bob the Builder topped her list right below the public restroom! Grace was really fascinated by the big dinosaur that was "stuck and couldn't get out," the wheelbarrows she could push around in Bob the Builder, and combing the manequins' hair in the Barbie experience as well as the climbing activities, water, and sand which the boys also loved. In Bob the Builder, she even hammered a few nails into a block of wood, smashed her own finger, and made "tuk, tuk" sound effects. It was fun watching her interact with the other children who seemed very agressive and pushy for much of the day. Grace kept looking over at us when the children would push in front of her, and we tried to give encouragement and assistance only when she couldn't handle the situation on her own. Finally after several children pushed in line in front of her to climb into the tree house, I stepped up and said, "Okay, Gracie, it is your turn now," because she was getting frustrated, but she climbed right into the "underground" tunnels and even came down an alternate slide that we didn't know was there and found us waiting around the other side. She became more comfortable with the other children and more assertive as the day progressed. She kept telling us, "No going home now," when we were heading to a different exhibit.

Grace has an amazing amount of confidence for only being here for a few months. She walked around all over and didn't seem concerned at all about getting lost, which is good and bad. We really wanted her to explore so we just followed her most of the day. She would look back for us if she couldn't see us, and she said, "Come here," quite often to show us what she found. One of her favorite attractions was the toddler-friendly bathroom. They had a toddler stall, toddler sink, soap dispenser, towel dispenser, mirror, etc. and Grace told everybody in the bathroom that it was hers. "Mine" is probably her favorite word right now.

When it was time to leave, she walked away from us and headed up the big yellow staircase. She wanted to stay and told us, "Go play, no go home." We had to threaten to make her "sedni" sit instead of using her favorite bathroom again before we left, and kept talking about how we were going to see Vince. She said, "Vince and Gracie play the guitara. Today. No tomorrow. Today...with Vince." This is her way of asking a question, so she looked at us and waited to see if we would agree. Finally she lwent to the bathroom and left when we told her that we would come back again if she was a really good girl. Of course, her response was, "Tomorrow!" and we had to tell her, "No...not tomorrow...later." Although she didn't like it, she left without a tantrum even though she had to have been exhausted from the day and made it clear that she was unhappy.

We met Vince at Fazoli's for his pre-race carb loading supper, and Grace loved trying to put her headband on Vince's head. Then he took us to his room to play his "guitara" and even let her use Jake's ukelele so they could play together. Vince is such a wonderful friend and advocate of Christian community that his dorm room has an extra bunk, and he has never used the option of a private room that RA's are allowed. He is going to be a great social worker or minister because he has such a heart for people. His gentle nature when he is with Grace is precious.

Vince headed to the library to gather supplies for a paper he needs to write, and we headed back early to the hotel so he could get a good night's sleep before his big race. This will be our last visit to IWU since Vince is graduating, but I am so happy he is moving back to the area. Adam has been looking for an apartment, so it looks like the two will be living together with another friend in a three bedroom townhouse near the Decatur airport. I think it will be hard for Blaise to head back in the fall since his brothers will both be staying here, and we haven't told Grace yet that she won't get to eat breakfast with Adam anymore...