Science Museum

Yesterday I took a day off work to get some things accomplished and also to meet Offspring #1 and family at the Science Museum in Saint Paul. Oh, the Science Museum is a magical place. We were there six hours and the children could have stayed longer. Out of the windows overlooking the Mississippi River we could see that Shepard Road was flooded. The buildings on Harriet Island were so flooded that if I stood inside the picnic shelter I would have river water up to my waist. Grandgirl #1 is into dinosaurs so she was happy to see the TRex in the entrance.  She happened to be wearing a TRex shirt so that was perfect. Her sister was asleep in her parent's back carrier so we used the first couple hours to focus in on the dinosaurs. Near one room full of dinosaur bones there was a miniature glacier set up and also a miniature mountain. Kids could play on the scenery. She had a great time sliding down the glacier and jumping off the mountain with a couple of other children about her own age. We ate peanut butter sandwiches for lunch in the café. We went to a demonstration about fire. I sat on the floor as the scientist popped a balloon with a lighter. The next balloon had water in it.  He held it over his head with the lighter on it but it never popped. For his next trick he burned a $20 bill.  He soaked the bill in a mixture of alcohol and water. The bill was dripping liquid.  When he held the bill with tongs and lit it with his lighter it flamed up as the alcohol burned and then the fire went out without actually burning the money. He had a fire going in a little bowl.  He put a five foot tall cylinder over that little fire and spun it to create a funnel of air. The fire grew five foot tall in mere seconds. For his last trick he had a balloon of hydrogen. He added the hydrogen to a bowl of soapy water. He lit that on fire and "Boof!" A huge flame flared and died instantly. After that show we wandered around some more. We saw the mummy. We went to the area about the human body.  I was in charge of the one year old by myself when I put my arm in a blood pressure machine to take my blood pressure. As soon as the machine squeezed my arm she started wandering off.  I could not do much about it.  Luckily she didn't go too far. Sometimes she would get bored so I would find a display where she could press buttons and that kept her interested. Also, she enjoys washing her hands in the bathroom so we did that too.  She likes to rip off the paper towels that come out automatically.  I think Grandgirl #2 would stand there ripping paper towels all day if I let her. I think the reason the visit went so well is that we let the children set the pace and make the decisions. I found a medical chair we could sit in that would vibrate when you held the handles.  Oh, we all had fun with that one. We ended the day in a children's play area where they could wash the dishes and play with puppets. I haven't been to the Science Museum for a long time and I am sure glad we went.