Maryland Science Center

My family has been to Baltimore a few times, we've been to the National Aquarium, Port Discovery, and the Historical Ships in the Inner Harbor but never to the Science Center.  To be honest I had no idea that there was a science center in Baltimore.  I must say that it is one of the best activities we have done in Baltimore, actually one of the best museums we've been to in awhile.

The best part of science museums is how they are able to capture the attention of both the young and old.  The Maryland Science Center has lots of great hands on activities that not only entertain but also educate.  The hands on activities are also not just geared toward kids so adults without kids don't have to feel stupid giving them a try.

One of the highlights of this particular trip was the egg drop.  Tavish (with a bit of our help) made a container in which a staff member dropped an egg off the 4th floor.  

Egg Drop Vessel

Down it goes

Thunk...We were quite surprised that the egg did not get smashed 

as Tavish cracked the egg before we dropped it.

Kyle and I really enjoyed the Newtons Alley which is a huge touch area.

 Touch a Cloud

My boys having fun 

 Pull that rope

Callen checking out the floating orb

Tavish took a bit of coaxing to get on the bed of nails but after mom and dad gave it a try he figured he should too.

There is a great kids area complete with a water table, play ship, construction games and more.

 Callen working out

 Tavish fishing off the ship

 Water table fun

Callen enjoying the Waterfall

While the rest of the museum was great, Tavish loved the Dinosaur exhibit.  This is by far the best dinosaur exhibit that I have ever been to.  Lots of hands on activities including digging for dinosaur bones and measuring dinosaur feet.

 Digging for a bone

 Dino's are eating the buildings

 Hiding in the bones

 More digging

 Better get those bones in order

Dino's have big feet

Callen's turn to hide in the prints

As you can see we had a great time and lunch was good too.  The food in the museum was standard fair with a flare.  While it was pretty much pizza and burgers, they did have 5 or 6 kinds of burgers and they were pretty good.  

We visited this muesum on a weekend in February which helped with crowd control, I can imagine there would be long waits for some of the more popular hands on activities in the summer or when school groups are present.  However, this is a great museum and I would highly recommend it to anyone who will be in the Baltimore area.  

Fixing the Flat - First Day

Callen got his band today.  I must say so far so good but we'll see how tonight goes.  He sure is cute though.

 All Smiles

Wordless Wednesday

I've decided to start a Wordless Wednesday post.  My plans for my Wordless Wednesday are too use old and new travel photos.  These photos will be anything as long as it has to do with trips and travels.

My First Worldess Wednesday Photo is from Aug 2005 - one day after my husband and I were married and the first day of our Alaska cruise.

Fixing the Flat - Last Day of Helmetless Fluffy Hair and Our Activities

Tomorrow Callen will enter into Cranial Technologies with a head full of fluff (I'm not sure I'd call it hair) and will exit with a helmet full of fluff.  He'll have an adjustment period but will have to wear it for 23 hours a day for about 6-8 weeks.  Here are the few pictures of his fluffy head before he gets banded:

100 Days Old - good thing I won't have to hide his eye lashes

 See not much hair, just fluff

 My cutie

 And because this is a trip and travel blog here are some pictures of our activities over the last few days:

 Friday was such a nice day - Tavish had a great time playing in his shorts

Today: no shorts but fun sledding

 Callen not too sure about this sledding thing

 This is how Callen fell asleep with his arms up

 3...2...1... Blast-Off

Mission Control

 Now time for a snack (frozen breastmilk in a bag) Yum.

With a combination of bad weather and the fact I'm still not feeling great, we spent the last few days at home but we did have fun.

National Museum of the American Indian

My husband and I have been making a list of stuff we want to do in the D.C. area before we move (that is if we move, we'll be here for sure until May 2012 but after that who knows).  It seams like we keep on doing the same things over and over again and it's not that they aren't great things it's just there is so much to see and do we might as well see it all.  The first thing we did on our To Do List was the National Museum of the American Indian.  I must say I was quite surprised how interesting and kid friendly this museum was.  Both my husband and I thought the museum was about US American Indians but were were pleasantly surprised to find out it was about Native Peoples of the Americans not just the United States.

All of the exhibits were really well done.  The 3 main permanent exhibits are: Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World, Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories, and Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities are all very interesting and give insights into Native life.  The best part of these exhibits is that the museum recruited curators from the different tribes and bands so the depictions of these People are told from their own perspective.

There were lots of hands on activities and movies for Tavish to play with so I'm sure he enjoyed himself.  Callen slept though most of exhibits so I'm not sure he got much out of it.  One of the highlights of the museum is its fantastic restaurant. Unlike the American History Museum which has terrible food and the Air and Space Museum which has McDonalds, the American Indian Museum has themed food.  The food court is split into different areas each which showcases traditional Native foods (there are hamburgers and chicken fingers for the picky eaters).  Even if your not planning on checking out the museum, it's a great place for lunch if you are in the area.

In the world of D.C. museums this is a great one to go see if you have time or are very interested in Native People.  I would recommend the American History (but not for lunch), Natural History, and Air and Space Museums over this one.  But if you have the time I'd would check it out, especially if they have an interesting live demonstration on, which they usually do (we missed out on the chocolate festival they were having a few weeks ago and I 'm kinda sad about that).

 "Cheese"

Kyle with his hands full, admiring a snow machine 

 Tavish taking a boat for a ride

 Tavish love the Rainbow

 Statue of an American Indian

 Tavish having fun walking on the wall outside the musuem

 Now time to rock climb (that's my boy)

Callen not too sure about what his brother is doing

I'm on Facebook

This blog now has a Facebook Page.  Please come check it out.  http://www.facebook.com/pages/And-Were-Off-To/189392127759024

I Hate Being Sick

Okay I know that "I Hate Being Sick" is a stupid saying, really who loves being sick but I'll say it anyway.  I Hate Being Sick.  We had plans this weekend to visit the Capitol Building in D.C. yesterday but instead we all stayed home.  I guess it's a good thing to be sick when the weather sucks so it could have been worse, it could have been nice outside.  Today is another sick day but hopefully I'll feel better soon, maybe by this afternoon I'll feel well enough to take my boys and our dog out for a walk.  It's not warm today but the sun is shining and I really could get out of the house today.

Skating

The laces for my skates finally came in and I was able to take Tavish skating.  This was Tavish's first time skating in real skates (last year I took him but he used double blade skates).  It was really fascinating to see how well he improved over the course of the hour.  When he first put his skates on he could not walk on the ground without his ankles rolling in but by the time we were ready to leave he could skate a short distance from me to my dad.  I really need to find him lessons.

 Getting ready to skate - a bit wobbly

Just push me mom

 Skating with Grandma

 I can skate on my own

 Just a cute shot of Tavish

 Skating with Grandma and Grandpa

 Callen slept though the whole thing

 By myself 

I did it