The Maryland Science Center

Last Friday the sitter was closed and I took the day off to spend the day with the boys. I've been dying to take them to the Science Center but I've been waiting until I thought they'd be old enough to enjoy it. I was still a little concerned about Nick but I was off and we needed something fun to do so I decided to brave the city by myself. While that wouldn't be a big deal for most people, I'm a little neurotic and refuse to drive in the city by myself. There isn't much I wouldn't do for my boys so I sucked it up and drove to the city with them in tow. I parked in the first spot I came to that was close to the Science Center so I paid out the wazoo for parking but at least I was close and the car wasn't likely to be gone from the lot by the time we were finished. We picked a good time to go because they currently have a really cool dinosaur exhibit that the boys were fascinated by. When we walked in Collin saw a really big dinosaur that I thought was a brontosaurus and he exclaimed "look Mom, a diplodocous". I never did find the spot to check and see what it was exactly but it very well could have been a diplodocous. He learned about a few different types of dinosaurs from "Captain Flynn and the Pirate Dinosaurs". We read it all the time, it's one of his favorite books. When we were done with the dinosaurs, we walked around the rest of the museum and saw exhibits about the human body and Antarctica. When he spotted the giant blue crab that's been there forever he asked for the camera to take a picture. It didn't turn out too badly and I'll post it as soon as I can steal the lap top from Tim, I downloaded all the pictures there instead of to the desktop. Their favorite part of all had to have been the kids room. There were so many different things to do there. Collin found a train table with Thomas trains and Nick found the water station where he could pour water and play with buckets. There was also a boat and an underwater area for the kids to explore that they thought was pretty coo. The other part that really fascinated them was the space area. Collin immediately sat down and tried to build a space craft and Nick gravitated to the remote controlled Mars Rover model. I personally liked the live video feed from the current space mission. Even though I was worried about how much Nick would be able to enjoy the trip, my fears were unfounded. He enjoyed it every bit as much as Collin did and I think that's why they were so well behaved. I never had to yell at them or even speak sharply to them. They did everything I asked when I asked. I think it was because there was so much to explore that they never had time to get bored. I didn't ask very much of them, just that they stay together and not touch things that weren't supposed to be touched. I let them guide us through whatever drew their attention next. I can't wait to go again and this time we're taking Daddy with us. He was the only thing missing from our wonderful day together.

Since Daddy missed out on all the fun at the Science Center, when he got home we decided to take the boys mini-golfing. One of the best things about living in Columbia is access to the pools and gyms and sports park for one monthly fee, which when you consider all you get, is pretty inexpensive. The mini-golf was free so we'd like to go fairly regularly but this was the first time all four of us have gone together. I hope the rest of the people weren't listening too closely to our conversations. They consisted of stuff like the following "Oh man, I didn't get a hole in one" after the first shot on every single hole. By the 18th hole, that was followed by stomping and lots of pouting. "Collin and Nicholas, you are not allowed to touch anyone's balls but your own". "Stop touching your brother's ball" and "If you guys don't stop playing with your balls you're both in big trouble". It was the most excruciating 18 holes of golf I've ever played. We had a good time but the boys do not get the concept at all. Nick would hit the ball once then pick it up and drop it in the hole, then he would pick up everyone elses balls and put them in the hole too. Collin wouldn't give anyone else a chance to hit their ball. He took his 25 shots before anyone else could hit the ball regardless of whether or not you were trying to take your turn. It was amusing to say the least and they boys had a good time. We'll definitely go again sometime.