Exploratorium

We went to the Exploratorium today as one of our regular outings. When we got there there were school buses filling the parking lot and big kids running all over the place. I wonder if one of the schools was from the inner city or perhaps a rougher neighborhood. The students were....rough around the edges...? By comparison, my three children were so small and very intimidated by the bigger kids. More than once a group of students would go blasting past where we were and nearly knock Elle down. I made sure to stand right by her as much as possible. Hunter and Ethan wore their beeper bears, which...I might add...have been absolutely WONDERFUL! Hunter knows that when I beep him he is to stop and find me immediately. Every time we've used them out, parents are asking me where to get them.

ANYWAY... We passed by the dissection table just in time to see the cow eyeball get started. The children were fascinated. I don't remember doing an eyeball when I was in school. Perhaps that's something we can do together once Ethan is a little older and better equipped to handle a knife.

I forgot to bring in water with our lunches, so we splurged and bought a milk for everyone. I helped Elle get her first drink, but when I offered her another drink she did not want any. I looked in the container and the milk was chunky and smelled just awful. AUGH!!!! I took it back up to the cashier who pointed out that the expiration was not past. "Just smell it" He didn't want to do that, so he let me get another milk. No sooner had I gotten back to the table than Ethan said he didn't like his milk either. Oh no.... I picked it up and he had already drunk half of it. It wasn't chunky like Elle's but it smelled rank. I took it back too and then pulled a new one out of the far back, just to be sure. I was crossing my fingers the rest of the time that nobody would throw up.

I was really excited to go today because the last time we were at the Exploritorium they had an entire section in the back cleared out for some new exhibits. I was so jazzed to see what new stuff they had, but as it turned out they just rearranged the existing exhibits and added only one or two new things. It was still all great stuff, and all of the children's favorites were still there....including the toilet drinking fountain. They think that is the funniest thing ever! One of my favorites is where you get a straw and put it over a metal rod to bite down on. Then when you plug your ears you can hear music. It's WILD! The bar is vibrating and when you bite down on it the vibration carries to your ear bones and tricks you into hearing something that's not really there.