Our Day Trip

Today we joined Mamaw, Papaw, Beth & Seb for a trip to a "center for history, art, & technology" (as their sign said). We expected to be there a couple hours but ended up spending the entire day there. We had a great time!



The entire main level of the building was geared towards hands on activities for kids. They also offered a short science show and a glass blowing demonstration. The upstairs had more historical things. There were other buildings, too, but we didn't make it to all of them. Here are some picture highlights of our day.

Some of the exhibits/activities




The station in the middle had a bunch of snap circuit boards just like the one Tyler got for Christmas.










































Glass blowing demonstration. He made a fish with multicolored fins & tail. It was neat and reminded me of the time we were in Japan and tried it.













They had an invention lab. The kids could invent or take stuff apart. Danielle made a dog. Tyler made a solar panel that powered some generators, which in turn powered a tv. (All his own idea.) The only problem was there wasn't any glue. So, the kids used masking or duct tape for everything and then we hot glued it all when we got home.


















We enjoyed a picnic in the courtyard ("Mamaw packs the best snacks!") and then saw some of the outside exhibits.








Uh, the kids were trying to see if their, uh, "toots" would sound different on different spots of the xylophone. Really it was a very scientific experiment. Right.

I think my kids loved this area the most. It had baskets full of kapla blocks, wedgits, lincoln logs, uberstix, and other building materials. I loved this area because I have looked into buying some of these items before but in order to get a decent set, you have to spend a lot of money!! The kapla blocks are at least $1 a piece. My kids loved these Magna Tiles the most. (Danielle has declared she MUST have these for her birthday. The light-up table, too.) These are over $1.50/block, so the cost adds up quickly! If we lived closer, I would have bought a membership just for this area. Even Papaw liked the Magna Tiles.























And this evening we were delighted to find a monarch fluttering around the milkweed. We haven't seen any caterpillars yet, but I'm sure we will before long. Danielle was super excited about this guy (girl?).