Pacific Science Center Playgroup

Friday, the kids were out of school, so we entertained them by taking them to the Pacific Science Center. In January we went to the OMSI when we went to Portland and paid for a year-long membership. We figured we'd get our money's worth out of the deal by going to the Pacific Science Center, where we can get in free by showing our OMSI card.

We were already planning on going to the museum when we heard that some of the moms and kids in our ward's mid-day enrichment play group was going, too. We met at 9:00 and carpooled up to the museum. There were 7 adults and 26 kids (if I did the math correctly!) There were more of us than most of the school groups that came. And the best thing is--we didn't lose anyone--at least not permanently, anyway . . .They've changed a lot of the exhibits since we were there last. One of the favorites was the tree house, or as one of the kids labeled it, "The Jungle Gym." They had butterfly and bird outfits for the kids to wear as they played and danced against a green screen that made them look like they were in the forest.Sophie's favorite part was playing in the toddler/preschool area with the water and bubbles. (I didn't get any good pictures though because I was afraid of getting the camera wet!) She had so much fun playing with all of the "big" kids like Lydia, Abigail, Chloe, Sienna, and Emma. It was the perfect spot for me to be so I could keep and eye on Ben and Rachel as they explored around the science exhibits. (Steven had to stay home with Steve because he'd been sick the night before.)Here we are at lunch time (well, about 1/3 of the kids, anyway. . .) Some of us had brought sack lunches and didn't want to eat in the designated outdoor picnic area, so we ate in a hallway.

Ben's favorite part of the day was the science show which was all about air pressure. He had fun showing off all of his science facts. (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, if you know what I mean! Dad would have been so proud.)At the end of the demonstration, the "scientist" let the kids ride on a homemade hovercraft. They had a lot of fun.

Rachel's favorite part was the butterfly house. A butterfly even landed on her! Ben had fun taking pictures of the butterflies and flowers with Steven's new camera. (Ben was sad that Steven couldn't come, so he documented the ENTIRE day on camera--he went through 2 sets of batteries!)

Don't feel too badly for Steven, though. He was feeling fine at home and got to play video games all day. He got a new game for the Wii called Boogie, so he spent the day "boogying!" (Here he is playing Guitar Hero. He's getting really good at it!)