Change of plans

Well, due to rain, we had a change of plans today. No T-ball. :( So, we decided to take the boys to the Science & Technology Museum again. This place is HUGE...we have been there twice now and still haven't seen everything! This time, we got annual passes for our family, which will allow me and the boys to go during the week for free, when there are less likely to be crowds.

I know I have mentioned it before...but this place is SOOOO cool! The entire facility was designed with 'learning' in mind. It is so much fun for the kids...and everything, even the play area, is about science and/or technology. You never get bored!

Since the last time we went, Brandon has been talking almost non-stop about the volcano in the 'Earth Exploration' section. This, of course, is MY favorite section since it is all about the earth, rocks, minerals and geology. I thought, "Hey! How cool! Brandon must have really found a passion for the subject if he talks about the volcano so much!" I thought (for a second) there was a chance that Brandon might want to follow in Mommy's footsteps someday. Uh...no. hahaha We went through the section again and I was sure to talk about the exhibits in a little more detail, since this is MY subject of expertise. As usual, I was totally passionate and animated when pointing to certain displays...anything from oil extraction, to the minerals, to the fake bedding along the walls, to the fossils, to caves, to earthquakes, etc.

*sigh* Brandon held the same vacant, uninterested look the rest of my family gives me when talking about anything rock related. haha Boys will certainly be boys though. The ONLY time I saw any spark come into his eyes, is when we brushed upon a subject that involved mass destruction. haha *sigh* While I can't deny that anything with enough force to cause mass destruction is fascinating (from a purely geological standpoint)...it seemed to be the ONLY thing that caught his attention. When we reached the volcano that simulated what a real volcano sounds like and has fake lava running down the sides of the mountain, towards us...we found that the exhibit was partially broken down and the speakers weren't working. With the failure of proper explosive action, Brandon's interest dimmed as well. haha Oh well!

Along with his love of architecture, Brandon has always been fascinated with the human body. He loves his Magic School Bus DVD of the Human Body. He asks us to read his Human Body and Eating Good For Your Body books all the time before bed. He doesn't just want to look at the pictures...he has a real fascination with how the body works...anything from the digestive tract, to the skeleton, to the muscles, blood vessels and organs. So, it's no surprise that when we visit this museum and come across anything body related, he will just sit and stare at it for a long time. Today, we saw a display with several body parts. They had an eyeball with the proper placement of ligaments, an ear drum and canal, a brain with the skull cut halfway off to see the brain, etc. He LOVED it! These 3-D models really helped him to understand how things fit inside the body and how they were all related. They even had a pregnant woman with a baby showing inside...uh, yeah, honey, let's save that for another day! haha He is right at that "question" stage where anything can pop out of his mind! haha

We had time for one other section. We went into a section that had all kinds of virtual technology, ie, stage with a blue background where the kids could sing a tune on a microphone and dance in front of a virtual castle, screens that made it look like you were skiing, river rafting or walking across a deep canyon on a tight rope, and other cool stuff. We then walked into an area with all kinds of pulley systems, and physics experiments! It was really cool! The boys had a great time learning all kinds of things! Brandon's favorite was the mind boggling [huge] faucet that had water running into a [huge] sink, but no pipes attached to it at the top. Magic... hee hee He couldn't understand where the water was coming from. It HAD to be magic! ;-)

After we visited a couple sections of the museum, we had snacks and headed to the huge play area for kids. Once again, Brandon wanted to "build" a house with a team of other kids in the 'Want to be an Architect' area. The whole kids area is also designed to learn. There is several huge walk through models of the brain, lungs and heart, where kids can learn how each of these organs function. There is a simulation of a dam, where electro currents are generated and how water power can be made into electricity. There are a few water pumps where kids learn about pressure valves. There is an area where kids can scream (not my favorite section) into boxes that convert the sound waves into another kind of energy. There is a "farm" section where kids can learn all about farming, and the critters beneath the ground as well (where they walk through tunnels beneath the farm to see ants, moles, etc.). The little kids section is a jungle of fun as well, where they can crawl through logs, climb a small tree house, swing on a small tree swing, climb a huge spider's web and slide down the inside of another short log. Not to mention, the light displays they have all over the this area and HUGE airplane mobiles circling overhead! Totally fun, huh!?

Allen and I agreed that we really can't do more than two sections at a time with the boys in one day and since we now have annual passes, we decided to head home...much to the boys' disappointment. It was a long day...but, again, a fun filled one. :-) Tomorrow should be another busy day as well.