A day with Papa at the Science Center

I have owed this trip to Skylar for the better part of a year - and have not made it happen for her due to all the inane excuses that life brings. I had the pleasure of sitting through two fantastic parent-teacher conferences this week and resolved to give them a great day.

We arrived in Des Moines and had a few minutes to walk around and see the Court Avenue area.


We got to participate in many of the "shows" that the SCI puts on. This was "Cold Blooded Creatures". Both of them asked very good questions and were eager to hold the animals. Both of them were completely comfortable with the snake. A bit of a surprise.



This was "Fire Works" where we saw how liquids, gasses, and solids were flammable. He was burning methane filled soap bubbles in his hand. Skylar jumps up, "COOL! Burn baby burn!" We had to have a long talk after this show about how dangerous home experimentation could be.


This was "Zap". Playing with electrons, neon lights, and shocks.



The plasma globe is always a hit.




Skylar came around the corner, read the wall, and demanded that I take her picture.


This was a neat display. The kids had to build a "rocket" out of paper and tape then use an air launcher to measure their flight distance. After this we went to a movie in the planetarium called Dawn of the Space Age. Complete disappointment in the retelling of the space race and the first flight to the moon. All done in CGI, all the rocket launches, moon landings, training sequences. How many freaking thousands of hours of film do we have in the historical archives documenting these things that ACTUALLY HAPPENED? These jokers take the time to make it look like a video game. I think it just confused the kids.


Tracings leaves and learning about the Iowa prairie. The animal exhibits were a big hit.





I have no idea how many bacteria are passed around Iowa by this thing. The kids loved it and had no issues with sticking their tongues out while having their faces pressed into them. I can only cringe at the 28,000 other kids this week who did the same thing. Yuck.




After watching the IMAX move "Wild Ocean", we decided that Spaghetti Works would be the perfect end to our day. 5,000 calories of chicken parm, meatballs, pasta, and tiramisu consumed and we headed for home. On a rather bright note, this dinner was mannered, relatively clean, and both kids were able to articulate their thoughts on the day. It has been the better part of a decade since the wife and I have had a dinner like this with our children present, and I had my faith renewed.



I love you guys!

Papa