My son, his girlfriend, and I had one full day to spend together yesterday. It was a very hot day, so we found a museum to go to. This was a toy museum. Evidently my son had wanted to visit the place sometime and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I wondered how much there would be for college age and above to do there but it sounded like fun. At the entrance, we visited the garden area before the heat was unbearable. It was full of beautiful flowers large and small, fruit trees, and vegetables. There were games to play throughout – hopscotch, ring toss, musical chimes, and a place to make a fairy house. Once inside the museum, we headed upstairs as there were fewer people going that direction. We rounded the corner and came upon a huge version of Nintendo Mario. It was big enough that there was a bench behind the controller. One person could control the direction and one could control the jumps as Mario was led through his world on the giant screen. I was surprised how much I remembered from when I played the game a very long time ago. That was only the beginning. There were displays of different types of toys and gaming showing their history. All throughout the museum there were toys and games to play with as well. We played assorted video games, puzzles, Jenga, light-up Connect 4, checkers, giant Battleship and Chess just to name a few. There was even a butterfly garden. About half way through our day we spotted my son’s roommate and joined them for more fun. We literally played all day long. I have had such a wonderful couple of weeks with friends and family. It was the perfect way to conclude the time.

I Found God today in the joy of playing.