Whenever we drive down to San Diego, we pass by a huge cube just off I-5, which happens to be a science museum. Neil loves science museums, and we have a membership card that gives us admission to most of them, so it was only natural that we’d take this opportunity to check it out. It’s even eerier when approached closely, since there is a dinosaur skeleton in front of this gigantic cube.
It was definitely an extraordinary science museum. At the front, there were several experiments, including a geyser and pulley exhibits which fascinated our children. And inside,there was a smaller version of the ball maze in front of the San Jose Tech, which has kept Neil enthralled since early childhood.
Many science museums don’t have much for Kelly, since there are children’s museums for children like her. This museum–officially, the Discovery Science Center of Santa Ana–was an exception. An entire section was set aside with a Sesame Street teaches you about the body theme, and included an activity to dress up Elmo, a giant nose, and a race between a stairmaster, a wheelchair and a rowboat. Elmo himself made regular appearances, though Kelly was too shy to meet him. Later on, in another young child section, though, she dressed up as Elmo:
After lunch, we went outside to see the museum’s pirate exhibition:
It cleverly turned piracy into an educational subject, with explanations on how astrolabes work, and hunting for hidden treasure with a metal detector. While we were there, a woman gave me a wand to use in the dinosaur exhibit which we hadn’t seen yet. I wondered what it was for.
The dinosaur exhibit was also outside, but on the other side of the museum:
Besides being able to run around inside a dinosaur and mess with its digestive system, childen with a wand (which would have cost $5 were it not for the generous lady) can go on various Raiders of the Lost Ark like missions. Neil loves treasure hunts, and while Kelly played on baby triceratops, mooched pretzels from a baby, and discussed fairies and Peter Pan with an indulgent fantasy mom, he completed all of the missions.
By this time, we’d had a full day, and we had to get to Universal City in order to rest up and prepare for Neil’s audition.