All the Cool Kids Call it "The MIM"

We spent a fantastic morning at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix this week. I never knew how awesome this place is--it's enormous, kids under age 6 get in free, the cafe is charming and the technology is way cool. Target is the primary benefactor of this amazing building, and it's only the second of it's kind in the world (so I'm told).

Jenna got every penny's worth out of her visit--she put on her headphones and turned on her narrating device and we barely saw her again. At almost 7 years old, she wandered into the Europe gallery and was entranced with every display.

The twins had a TON of room to roam--the MIM is very wheelchair friendly. The twins didn't have much tolerance for the headsets, so they mostly cruised around while using their "outdoor voices" to ask where they might find a French horn. I'm not even sure how they know what a French horn is, since I don't play it and we don't own one and Elmo doesn't mention it on any of the Sesame Street DVDs we have that they've watched one thousand two hundred thirty three times. Alas, there was more than one French horn in the building, so their needs were satisfied.

Blogger is challenging me tonight, so I can't seem to articulate an acceptable divide between my "kids at the museum" pics and "musical instrument porn" pics (the string bass reaches from floor to ceiling!). So without further ado, just go ahead and enjoy.

I don't have any pictures of her here, but we enjoyed our visit with my friend Kelly--have you been to her blog? You should. Go. Now. Here's the one pic she managed to snap, of her girls and me and Jenna and I think the twins are in there somewhere. It's always crazy hectic when we combine our five kids anywhere, but Kelly, we need to do this more often!

This place is big enough to accommodate probably a dozen (or more?) of our kids in wheelchairs and strollers. The elevators weren't large enough for two of my (overly large) chairs, but that's really my only critical observation of the place. The outdoor xeriscape garden was lovely, peaceful, and spacious. The price was reasonable ($15 for adults, $10 for kids above age 5), and the instruments were remarkable and numerous. I can't wait to go back alone, without the kids, so that I can actually appreciate each exhibit. ;)

One more--this just made me giggle.