Crazy Days Indeed: Museum of Science and Industry

Museum of Science and Industry

All the kids on the anchor of the U-505.

We took the kids to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago on Friday. It's about an hour drive - that we made in almost blizzard conditions. Hey...we're dedicated!!

Apparently, a real brain freaks Jillyan out, leaves Evan enthralled!

Allyson and Elly resting in a tractor tire.

The kids climbing the "Corporate Ladder".

The kids always have a blast there, and I highly recommend it for anyone visiting the city for a while. Their exhibits are thoughtfully arranged and educational for everyone. This time, we got to visit "Demo Alley". This is a large hall filled with stations conducting experiments that is "hands on" for the kids. We had the ability to make slime, watch and participate in experiments with magnetism and see a team dissect a frog. All very cool for the kids. Evan surprised us all with his thoughtful questions, and the answers to questions that we had NO CLUE would even be in his realm of thinking. OK...so this is a daily occurrence, but it is still shocking to see him in action!

Jillyan mixing a solution in Demo Alley.

Evan intent on his task at hand.

The Star Wars exhibit was booked, and so was all of the other special tours that you can see while you are there (that's what we get for going over a holiday!), but we were still able to check out the new Farming exhibit and some other things that we were unable to see last time. The U-505 area is always a favorite for the whole family - we are a WWII history kind of family, I guess! Another favorite was the Petroleum exhibit, and all of the hands on stuff that is there. The kids went through a mirror maze, tried to hit as many "molecules" as they could running through a room of rolling heavy bags, and checked out the "bubble show", a room that shows kids how petroleum density is measured. What a great time!

Evan in a submarine porthole.

The bubble show.

The little ones walked the whole time, so by the time we left in search of dinner - it was quiet in the van! We stopped at an Olive Garden closer to home to feed the masses. Since this was our first trip to an Olive Garden, it was quite an experience. The service was great and the kids loved the food...it really rounded out Malabanan Family day!