Mom Leaves :(

A couple of days ago, as one of our final family trips during my mom's visit, we all went to the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. Uh...WOW!! Another amazing and unexpected venue here in Shanghai!

The Science & Tech Museum is in the new Pudong area and was built within the last 5-8 years or so. The building itself is absolutely stunning. The museum is made up of several levels of...fun. :) Upon entering the building, we visited the 'Earth Exploration' section first (by accident). Uh...WOW!! It took about 2 hours to walk through JUST that section! The entire section was about the earth, rocks, minerals, volcanoes, history of Shanghai in regards to sedimentation and paleogeographical details. We witnessed the [real] sounds and sights of a big volcano! The lights went off, there was loud, booming thunder and lightening, similated spewing ash, lava [lights] that glowed red and creeped down towards us on the walkway. Brandon was scared and exhilerated all at the same time...he's still talking about it! It was just one of the cool exhibits in this part of the museum. Also, this section had [fake] bedding along the walls and real looking rocks along the wall as well. The final part of the section was the most real looking, but entirely fake, cavern with stalagtites and stalagmites, dripping water and pools of lit water...with a wooden, rickety bridge going across it! How cool! :)

We walked out into the sunlight of the museum and ventured over to one of the best kids play areas! Who knew! It was like Magorium's Emporium...for science geeks! Mommy loved it!!! :) The very first thing Brandon wanted to do...out of ALL the really cool things to see and do in there...was "become" a "real" architect and build things. This is an area where the kids put on little hard hats and "go to work!" There is a big crane they can move, a big half finished house to build, pulleys to get fake bricks and tools to the platform, wheelbarrows, blueprints, etc. Brandon had to wait in a long line and wait two whole 20-minute turns before he got in...and this is what he wanted to do first! He just might be an architect when he grows up...who knows! You should have seen him! He was a leader! He went right in there and started doing one thing or another...and sure enough...a minute or two later, other kids joined him in the activities, doing exactly as he was doing. He had lots of fun! :)

We were starting to get a little tired at this point, but we decided to head over to the 'Age Information' and 'Robot' section. We learned how the internet works by watching marbles run through various points of a "system". This is where Brandon finally began to understand this is how he is able to talk to Auntie, Grandma and Papa with the computer. We saw the material they use for computer chips and how it is formed from raw material to the finished chip. Very interesting. We saw robots perform different function, for different reasons...all kinds of robots!

Whew! NOW we were starting to get really tired...and we had only seen TWO major sections of the museum! They was a TON more to see! However, Papa John learned that there is definitely a "max" to kids' attention spans and energy. haha We all headed out to get sustenance at a nearby Brazilian BBQ place, in the copy market.

After eating, we headed back to the museum and watched an IMAX film...Mysteries of the Nile. This was the first time the kids had experienced an IMAX film...and WOW! They LOVED it! We all had reclining chairs (so us old fogies could rest a bit) and watched some amazing scenery on the screen. You should have seen the kids' faces! It was great.

By the end of the movie, the kids were actually ASKING us to go home. They were soooo tired!! Allen and the boys went home and the rest of us headed to the copy market to do some last minute shopping with my mom. We spent another 2.5 hours wearing down and tag teaming the vendors and walked out of the market feeling...satisfied! :) All in all...it was a GRAND last day, in many ways.

Yesterday, my mom and John went home. :( It was sad to see her go, but we have all talked about our upcoming visit to Hawaii this summer. So, we will see her sooner than I was used to seeing her back home. Even so, I was sad to see her go. :(

We will all be happy to visit Hawaii and get some fresh air. I'm glad our trip will be more extensive than usual. We can get a good dose of many things we have been missing since moving here to Shanghai. :) It's a GREAT thing to look forward to in the months to come!