Last week we went to St. Louis to visit my parents for Fall Break. Well, I should clarify it was the kids and me since Ryan's Fall Break is not the same as ours. That is just one reason we need to all be on the same schedule.
But I digress...
Even though we missed Ryan, we had a great time! In fact, I took so many pictures that I didn't want to load them all into one post. I just get carried away with taking pictures and think that everyone will want to see ALL of the lovely pictures that I take...or maybe only family does...or maybe only I do. Anyway, I'll post the pictures in different posts.
The first day we went to the Science Center. If you haven't been to St. Louis and have elementary-aged kids, the Science Center is a great place to visit. It's free (although the parking is $10 so be aware of that!) and has a lot of hands-on activities for kids. I liked that there were some new things since I last went and that the boys were old enough to interact a little better with some of the exhibits.
For example, when we first walked in we saw this hamster wheel-type thing. There was a boy already looking at it, and my boys just decided to join him on it. Well, the boys tried and tried and could not get it going. Finally, it moved. Success! I was thinking, boy, I can't believe there is so much friction that these boys can't get it going. Granted, they weren't exactly working too hard on figuring it out.
Jack must have decided going vertical was the way to get it going while the other boy looked like he just wanted to hang on the bar.
This time Grant and Jack worked in opposite directions. I wonder why didn't it move. ;)
Grant finally decided maybe it would work best to spin it from the outside...and it moved.
Caroline and the other boy's little sister were waiting patiently for their turn. When the boys got off, they got on--and immediately got it going pretty fast. Hmmm...good job, girls! I guess there is something to be said for just working together and using common sense. Or maybe they learned what not to do from watching their brothers.
There is also this lab area that I think they've always had, but the boys have been too young to go into it. They were able to go in with Papa and use a microscope and look at cheek cells. I think they really enjoyed it! Future medical researchers? I'd love it if they could figure out a cure for diabetes and other auto-immune disorders!
Caroline standing next to an emperor penguin. I didn't realize they were so tall!
Instead of watching a show about electromagnetism, Grant wanted to pull on this pendulum-thing and make a tennis ball fly up into the air. Papa (who was dressed up because he had come from a meeting) helped him. It's nice that my dad is sort of retired now so he can come and hang out with us more when we visit!
We ended our time there by visiting another new (at least, to me) area. The kids liked this activity where they had to throw pieces of "coal" into the "fire" to keep the lights on. (Do you like how I put those two words in quotes--just in case you might think there is real coal and fire at the museum?) The number shows how many seconds left the light has power to stay lit. Basically, it is just an area for the kids to wear themselves out while we sit and watch. That may have been my favorite area in the whole museum! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment