Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

So Crown Center is this lovely place that throughout the year hosts

lots of neat exhibits that are free, making it a really nifty place to hang out on a Friday or Saturday night. They also have this really neat fountain that the kids play in all summer long, as well as free concerts and movies and such. Very family friendly, considering the current economy. The most recent exhibit was called 70 years of OZ, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the movie The Wizard of OZ. The best part of this particular exhibit was that it was totally kid friendly! We started in Dorothy's House and followed the Yellow Brick Road through the munchkin village (complete with little munchkin sized houses), through the woods, where you could see Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. Then you could walk through Emerald City, and meet the Wizard, sneak into the witches castle for a photo opp with the flying monkeys and the witches broom. Headed out you could watch the witch melt. Then you were out through the woods and into a "hot air balloon" , Down a slide and then home again. It was a little crazy, with about 50 kids running around and their parents chasing them. Here are the pictures of Solomon in the 'Merry ol' land of oz'. The top photos are Solomon looking at Dorothy and Glenda...he was a little weirded out that they wouldn't talk back to him. Then he tried out a chair in one of the munchkin houses. Next he and daddy followed the Yellow Brick Road over a bridge and into the cornfield where he got to see Scarecrow, Tin man and Cowardly Lion. Those pictures are directly below. Then we spent about a half hour pushing the buttons to make the Wizard talk.
After that it was through the witches castle and into the hot air balloon.

Then we went down the slide...and after we left we tried out the escalators!

And that was our adventure in Oz. We agreed that while we had tons of fun...there's no place like home!