Stepping Stones

So I cheated a little and added a visit to the Stepping Stones Children’s Museum to my Winter 2011 To-Do list, knowing full well that I had a visit planned before Christmas. My friend, Emily* was visiting the Norwalk area for the holidays and invited C and I to come with her and her daughter to the museum one morning before Christmas.

Now, living in NYC, Connecticut may seem like a word away, but without traffic (and you have to hold your breathe and keep your fingers crossed on that one), Western CT is really not that far. I allotted 90 minutes to get to Stepping Stones and I was there in under an hour (so I had to sit in the parking lot with C because it wasn’t even open yet, and it was wayyyy too cold to wait outside).

Stepping Stones does not have reciprocity with The NY Hall of Science, to which we are members, but it did have reciprocity with a museum that Emily belonged to, so we were able to enter free of charge. At first we let the kids (C, 21 months and K, 15 months) run around in what was really an area for older children to explore the exhibits, but as the museum started to fill up, we all headed to Tot Town which is where we remained. In fact, C spent about an hour playing with the play kitchen. And what a mock kitchen it was, complete with sink, stove, fridge, and granite countertops... only in CT I guess. But I forgot my camera, so I have no photographs.

We skipped the very large indoor water exploration area (for obvious reasons) and around 11:30 decided to leave the museum and go out for lunch. We called in our order to Valencia on the drive over and our food was ready when we arrived. At Emily’s suggestion, I had a wrap with deep fried, breaded, cauliflower, white beans and some other fillings that I can’t remember. And it was… AWESOME! Topped with this fresh herb sauce, this was one of the best lunches I have had in a while. And apparently this restaurant is quite a gem, good enough to be featured on Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives (Guy’s signature was on the wall!).

Luckily we did not hit traffic on the way home and were back in Queens in about an hour. I definitely plan to return to Stepping Stones, and Valencia again!

*Emily has been a frequent, and awesome guest blogger for BTG. Read about her BOB Revolution, her Hawaii trip, or her adventures in Cloth Diapers.

Also, our bloggy buddy Cole visited Stepping Stones over the holidays! Read his recap HERE.

*** Get Healthy in the New Year, be sure to enter the Chiquita Moms giveaway HERE***