all the whos down in whoville

Mike had some work to do on his car, so my mom and I hit the road with the boys Saturday morning and went to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was the last weekend for their big holiday tree display, and also the last weekend for their Dr. Seuss exhibit. I am, as you may know, a lifelong fan of both Dr. Seuss (though really, who isn't?) so it was kind of exciting to see the exhibit. I was disappointed that it wasn't more interactive for the kids (they got in trouble for touching a sculpture!) but it was really cool to see the "midnight paintings," secret paintings that Dr. Seuss did just for himself and hid behind a secret door (!) in his studio. (My mom really liked one called "Martini Bird," so I looked online to see if I could find a print. I did, but at $3,000, that's a lotta birthday/Christmas combo gifts!)

Anyway, we spent a fun morning exploring parts of the museum. The boys loved the model trains. Liam and Max picked a train and followed it all around the set (which was probably the same size footprint as our whole house), while Henry chose a different approach and simply planted his little feet and refused to leave the trains behind to go see anything else. He was completely enthralled. Luckily, his Yami was happy to just stay put with him and watch the trains come and go for a long time.

We checked out the airplanes, ran on a people version of a hamster wheel, drove mag-lev cars, experimented with static, stood in a wind tunnel, enthusiastically watched a video of a couch on fire (my dad would have loved that exhibit!), rode in a flight simulator, and generally ran around and had a good time. Toward the end of our time there, Liam decided he wanted to see the Fairy Castle (which I remember from my own childhood), so Henry and I accompanied him there while Mom and Max checked out the gift shop. Oh, the disappointment when Liam realized it was just a stupid dollhouse! He thought it was going to be something he could go inside and see fairies flying around. Guess I dropped the ball on explaining that one.

We were just about to head out the door when we finally spotted one thing the boys had been looking forward to since I showed them the museum website. The "Earth Revealed" exhibit for some reason was stuck way back in a corner behind a boring binary-code-themed internet exhibit, but it was worth the trek to get there. Liam and Max were mesmerized by the big globe and the presentation, and the woman giving the presentation was really good about asking the kids questions and keeping them interested in learning. Mercifully for all of us, Henry was asleep in his stroller for this part.

We stayed for hours, but we only got to see about half of the museum. Luckily, we are members (thanks, Barb and Kevin!) so we can go back to see the rest and revisit the favorite areas from this trip. Once we headed back out into the world, we realized we were all starving, so we went out for Thai food. The boys even got some kind of training chopsticks held together with rubber bands, which was very exciting for them. Once our bellies were full of noodly goodness, we all settled back into the van for the trip home, during which, I am surprised to report, nobody took a nap!