I may be 22, but parts of my brain never quite progressed past the age of five. I’m still obsessed with dinosaurs, every time I go to McDonald’s it is the new best day of my life and my little sister and I often speak in gibberish to convey our feelings.
So when I found out that the Madison Children’s Museum hosts events every other month where adults are invited to roam around the museum to play AND drink alcohol, I knew there weren’t too many events around town I would rather attend.
BUCKET LIST ITEM #7 – RELIVE CHILDHOOD AT THE MADISON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
The theme of last Friday’s Adult Swim event coincided with this weekend’s Wisconsin Film Festival, and attendees were encouraged to wear their finest, red carpet-worthy apparel. So, I dusted my junior prom dress off and stumbled in heels to the museum in style, where I met my lovely-dressed friends Kayla and Beth.
Upon entering the museum, I was immediately overstimulated. There were African drums to play, crafts to make, jungle gyms to climb and adult beverages to drink. I didn’t even know where to begin. (Beer was the victor.)
Kayla and I began exploring a playground area that we were clearly two feet too tall to fully enjoy, but we made it work. After I made a few childish observations, Kayla looked concerned and made a surprisingly false accusation. “Did you pregame for this or something”? We then assumed our roles for the evening – I was the obnoxious five-year-old at heart that I am already; she played the part of a suburban mom who drinks wine at breakfast.
Together we decorated pizzas, piloted a helicopter, painted animals (I made a T. rex, obviously), played with cars and wandered aimlessly. A few other friends got a flipbook made of their antics – something we were too shy to try.
We later came across a piece of every kid’s heaven: a jungle gym. We quickly discovered that the choice of wearing heels and dresses wasn’t the most conducive to taking the “advanced climbers only” path. I lost my footing for a second on the climb, silently apologizing for the view I was unintentionally giving fellow climbers below and for the fact that I would probably kill them if my foot refused to cooperate. But my inner-dinosaur strength kicked in, and we all survived.
While taking a well-deserved break with a stroll on the museum’s rooftop that provided a beautiful Capitol view and a place to rest our aching feet, we agreed to return for the next installment of Adult Swim; one night of unrepressed acting like a kid is not enough.
The next event will be May 18, 6 to 10 p.m. for those 21 and older. Tickets sell fast, so check out information at madisonchildrensmuseum.org.
Time is running out – what’s left on your bucket list? Share your stories and ideas with Katie at [email protected] or tweet @kforanmchale.
