northeast louisiana children's museum

We were driving through Monroe on a long road trip and desperately needed a break when we found the Northeast Louisiana Children's Museum. We are so glad we stopped. Admission is very reasonable at $5 per person, but we were lucky to visit after 11:30 on a certain day that Kohl's was sponsoring so we all got to visit for free. The museum is smaller than a lot of big city children's museums, but full of fun. They have a water zone with a large water table and a cool device that kids can stand in and make bubbles around themselves (you must try it--totally fun). They also have a large sand table, a two-story firehouse/police station, a kids cafe and lots of open-ended play stations and science explorations set up throughout the building. Both of my kids (1 and 4) loved playing in the kids cafe. It is a mock restaurant complete with a hostess stand, several tables and a back kitchen. We loved all the realistic elements added to the cafe like the coffee pots, soda dispenser and cash register. Two things I didn't like. 1. The bathrooms did not have diaper changing stations in them which seems like a given at a children's museum. 2. The fire station has a narrow stairway to climb up and once on top, there isn't much headroom for adults. There is a firemen's pole to slide down, but really little ones could easily walk right off the edge. My 20-month old almost walked right through the hole.