Trains, Subs, and Explosions

Have you ever been to the Museum of Science and Industry?  I have, too--but only on field trips and other organized excursions.  Until our recent visit, I had absolutely no idea how humongous it is.  I mean, it houses an entire submarine in one section of one wing of it (that you could completely miss in a daylong visit).  And the exhibits are pretty amazing, too.  And they have demonstrations and hands-on experiments all day long.  And they have a kids room that looks vaguely like the Wonka factory, but involves balls and kids, not candy and Oompa Loompas.

Freeman works kitty-corner from the library and is able to visit on his lunch breaks.  He does an awesome job of scanning for the highly coveted Museum Passes--which get you into a museum free.  (Side note:  It is a bit funny when you see the passes for the Mexican Fine Arts Museum checked out---because admission is always free there...but I digress).  In any case, he scored big back in February when he found a MSI pass in.  So our Saturday of fun was planned. Mid-morning, we hopped on a #10 bus(another side note:  Hamilton has a dream of riding all the CTA bus lines and this ride got him one step closer.  Twenty (or so) down, one-hundred ten to go!).

In all honesty, having Freeman around makes any outing more fun.  The kids had such fun with him and, as an added bonus, you'll see a picture or two of me.

One of the original Zephyr trains.  This is on exhibit in the front hall, before you even get your tickets to enter...that's how big this place is!

 

Checking out the inside of the Zephyr.

Watching the "explosions" demonstration (sorry about the Maclaren's reflective glare).

Different elements burn different colors.  I don't know that the lesson stuck, but they did like seeing fire.

Mapping DNA

Caroline taking it all in.  (Yes, I know I wasn't using the Moby correctly here. Oops!)

Awesome huge train display showing Seattle and Chicago and how freight trains are used cross country.

Keeping an eye out for trains.

Idea Factory aka Willy Wonka Factory

Sleepy baby

  There was a vacuum tube that kids could send balls up that would take them across the room and back down a "river" to end at this reservoir.

He could have stayed there all day.

And we let him get wet in February.  I don't remember what these water shooting contraptions did, but there were lots of science-related ball activities. 

Veronica found the reading nook and wanted me to read all about geological strata to her...

...but then she found the water.

I don't think this section was made for two-year olds.

Veronica's all about solutions.  Need some height?  Find a chair.

Now intercepting balls is much easier!

We also checked out an interesting, though slightly creepy, exhibit on circuses.

Hamilton wasn't a fan of the animatronic creatures...maybe because he couldn't identify that one with the paw-print shaped spots.

And this is what I was telling you about.  Seriously...an entire U-Boat...inside.  With halls and halls of information about the damage it inflicted, the lives of those inside, and its capture.  Fascinating.

Just writing this post makes me want to go back.  We didn't even check out half of what they have.  But there closed now, so I'll just have to settle for going to bed.