Celebrating and Sciencing

My mom's birthday was on Thursday this past week. And, as our weekdays are rather hectic, we celebrated with her today. We had a lovely breakfast, stop-off of cake and presents, and then headed to a location love of mine, the Museum of Science and Industry.

We had a  lovely time perusing, discovering, playing, observing, and learning about all kinds of science-y things.  It was fantastic.  Of course, in the many times that I have been to the museum, I had not gotten to go with my family (as an adult...I am sure that I went as a kid with my family, but I don't remember it quite clearly).  I also saw things in a different way before having Ellie there with us too.

Some highlights:
My dad was itching to see the baby chicks hatching, so this was the first stop on our journey.  Ellie loved the chicks as well, and it was hard to peel her away from them to move onto something else. (This can be noted in the pictures of trying to get her to pose with Gramma & Grandpa below)

 Then, in the storms section, there were huge lighted things on the flow showing the different types of waves that exist.  Ellie liked to "walk" around inside of these circles.

 This part was probably my favorite part of the time at the museum.  There were lights that would form outlines around our figures, in a pencil-drawingish kind of way.  If you moved, part of your figure would move with you, but the majority of it would stay behind. So bizarre, yet so addicting.

 Then, there was the ever so kid friendly, the Idea Factory.  There was a little section especially geared for "non-walkers."  It wasn't crowded, and Ellie became passionately interesting in sashaying around the water table, offering us various water toys along the way.

 In the "big kid" area, Ellie practiced playing with air currents, and in a few instances she looked like she literally was going to be blown away.  All for the price of playing!

 Ellie was talking up a storm on the ride home.  She did not want to sit and drink her milk while slowly falling asleep as I had perhaps planned.  Oh well, she had a good nap later.

 And, of course, her new thing - caught on video (don't worry, I wasn't the one driving).  She plays peek-a-boo.  But, instead of shouting "boo" at the end, she shrieks "bhaw" excitedly.  See it for yourself if you would like.

Have a great weekend!

**Thanks for having a birthday, mom, so we could celebrate with you!**