A Visit to Wayne Industries

This past Sunday, Owen was given the opportunity to be Bruce Wayne's guest at Wayne Industries Bat Cave. We had no idea what to expect and we were surprised... blown away!  Kam had dance competition all day and we made it to our meeting spot just in time.  Mr Wayne's Cadillac Limousine was waiting for our arrival to give us a ride to the secret bat cave. 

We had friends and family waiting for Owen's arrival.  HopeKids gave us the opportunity to experience the Bat Cave and they just had these adorable shirts made.  Owen won't take his off and has worn it everyday since.  "YES, I've been to the bat cave.  NO, I won't tell you where it is." 

After we were all dressed up in our new shirts, we headed into the Bat Cave, aka. Wayne Industries. 

The first room was modeled after the 1966 classic Batman series.  It was identical!  They showed us all a little clip from the series and got the kids involved.

I love that they all know the answers!

Charles Keller is the man who runs the operation and he gave Owen the master tour.  He had a statue of Shakespeare, just like the one in the series.

His head opened up and Owen got to push the button.  This is his favorite part of the entire night, perhaps because he made the book shelf open up and it lead to the stairs.

Guess where the stairs led??  To the poles that Batman and Robin slide down in the series.  Owen was only a mild bit terrified to slide down the pole, but he did it.  Kam went down, Carson went down.. I chose to walk back down the stairs.  Liv, Lucy and Gi went down the pole, but Emmy and Corbin took the stairs as well. :) 

SO fun!! 

Now we were in the bat cave control room.  There were machines with buttons everywhere.  Any little kids dream.. and Charles told the kids they could touch, push, and play with anything they wanted!

Giggles and squeals and the kids let loose.  It was pretty cool!  Each machine has a reference card and the scene from the series with the identical equipment.

Owen's favorite was the headphones and you look into the machine and watch episodes of the series.  I'm sure it has a cool technical "Batmanish" name, but I have no idea what it was called.

Even Bridgi got in on the fun.

Corbin on the phone..

We were then led into the room where all the Batmobiles are stored.  This is the kids in the Batmobile Parachute Pick Up Service bus.  They watched a little clip from the series inside.

Afterwards, Charles told the story of Gilligan's Island and had us sing the song... It was not performance quality, but the kids got a kick out of it.  Charles put me in the hot seat for the lie detector test and told me to say "YES" to every question.  I failed a couple and the kids thought it was hilarious.

Laughter at my expense.

We then got an important message that came over and Bruce Wayne needed Owen's help. 

Owen was so excited to jump into the Batmobile and head out!  I love his little "YYEEESSS!!!"

Off they went...

The Batmobile shot off bat shaped confetti, which the kids thought was pretty awesome stuff.  I'm sure all the parents loved going home with piles of confetti in hand.  Who knew paper could be so fun!

We got a group shot in front of the Batmobile.  Thanks to everyone who came out!!

They also brought out the batcycle, which was more of a hit with the kids since it went FAST!

Daddy driving the kids in the Batmobile.

Gigi and Emmy taking a ride.

Kam and Owen in the Batcycle.

Liv and Lucy in the Batcycle.

I got my turn to drive the batmobile, but could barely reach the peddle.  I'm pretty sure we got whiplash while going 5mph.

When the rides were finished we went back into the blue room.  Charles gave Owen a Batman USB Flash drive with all the pictures from our evening, and the entire series of Batman Classics.  He was SO thrilled!!!

If that wasn't enough, he gave him a batmobile car with a key and invited him to come back and drive the batmobile when he gets his license.  All the other kids got souvenirs as well.

Bruce Wayne is a philanthropist so he allowed Owen to donate checks to two of his favorite charities!  The first went to HopeKids!!  They are wonderful and I can't say enough great things about this organization.  They provide hope and entertainment to kids when they need it most, all fighting life threatening medical conditions.

The second charity is so close to my heart... Sisters By Heart.  It was started a few years ago by some of my favorite heart moms.  They offer support and care packages to newly diagnosed HLHS families.  All of them are moms of children with HLHS, like Owen.  When Owen was prenatally diagnosed with HLHS, we had no hope given.  There was no Facebook, social media, support groups locally.. no one to reach out to for information or support.  This is such a great non profit and they simply provide resources and hope to newly diagnosed families to let them know they are not alone.  Stacey told Owen "Thank You Owen.." to which he replied "No problem."

We had a really great night and met some wonderful people.  Charles Keller, thank you for all you do with your organization.. you are beyond generous!  Thanks to all our friends, family and Hopekids.  Owen will be talking about this experience for a long time!

In the limo ride back to our car, Owen received a phone call in the limo. It was Bruce Wayne's limo driver calling on behalf of Bruce and wanted to know if he enjoyed his evening. Owen said "Yes.. Thank you!!"

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