Marbles museum provides shelter from the rain, warm welcome to families

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Dozens of families donned rain gear and umbrellas during Saturday morning's downpour to get inside Raleigh's Marbles Kids Museum. Some, like Stephanie Parrish and her son, came for an event linked to children's programming by PBS North Carolina.

"We actually thought it might have been canceled," she said, "Until I went online and looked, and rain or shine, it's going. So here we are! Chilly. Wet. Messy."

Conditions that her son was eager to leave behind for a while.

"I'm gonna go to inside of the Marbles Museum, and I go to see the Oscars event that comes out March 10th," he said.

More parents who spoke with us were relieved to get out of the sometimes intense showers.

"Yeah, it's nice to be inside," Justin Knox said. "It's just a good event. You know, spend time with your family and be here and get out of the weather. That's the best part."

"This place is perfect. Crowded," said Sarah Jarrett. "It's very crowded. It's the most crowded we've ever seen it. But we're pretty new members."

We saw two birthday parades, featuring drumming and dancing, on Saturday. It's a memorable activity for all visitors regardless of age, said Marbles CEO Jonathan Frederick.

"I mean, you hear that funky drum beat? They know how to throw a good birthday party," he said. "Families come to celebrate all sorts of milestones here. Every weekend, you can have a birthday party here. You get a birthday parade, everyone cheers you on, and then you get to go back and have some cake."

Parents hope all the activities enjoyed by their kids will help them sleep soundly later, as we all adjust to the loss of an hour's worth of slumber.

"We are going to go home and work on nap and lunch to get ready for springing forward," said Brett Jarrett as he left the museum with his wife and son. "it is a bonus for us. So we'll have to do some work to get him down."