Through the Wardrobe

Fun Saturday
Saturday was Fun Saturday! I have to designate a Saturday every once in awhile as Fun Saturday or else it would be all Home Depot and Costco all the time. Plus, we always buy the Family memberships to the museums around here and I like to get my money's worth!
Paris had a friend he wanted to get together with all week and the only available day for both of them was Saturday so we had an extra kid. What surprised me was that this was a gal pal ("not a girlfriend, Mom"). She turned out to be Paris' doppelganger--albeit a female one, with long dark hair: she talked incessently, teased Paris and Apollo, and kept up with Paris' ability to be everywhere at once. She attatched herself to Athena later on, and Paris ruefully stated, "You're my playdate, but all you do is talk to Athena." "Yeah, well she's more fun," his friend said, "but we can wrestle later if you want." How old are these kids? (Needless to say, there was no wrestling later.)



Chronicles of Narnia
Anyway, we ended up going to the Franklin Institute and their Chronicles of Narnia exihibit. I am always amazed at the science they are able to pull from kids' favorite books/movies. Harry Potter was kind've obvious, what with "magic" and "potions". Star Wars was pretty logical too, with space exploration and futuristic inventions. But I was amazed at the science they were able to pull from Narnia. There was weather and man's effects on it (the endless winter in Narnia); how animals "talk" to us (talking animal characters); physics with catapults and arches (wars and castles); history (WWII); even the theory of relativity (time passing at two different speeds in Narnia vs. earth). They had a frozen waterfall, animal's burrows, and multiple props and costumes from the movie (most interesting fact: the White Witch's icicle crown grows smaller as her power diminishes). Check out the highlights here


The rest of the day
We went to a show on the "Chronicles of Weather" where they created a cloud, a tornado, and even thunder (heating a balloon filled with hydrogen makes quite a thunderclap when it pops). We went to the planetarium and watched collisions that happen in space. Then we spent the rest of the time watching the kids climb through a gigantic heart, learn the physics of sports, and explore the mechanics of trains.
Besides the sad fact that our camera finally died (sorry there's no pics), it definitely was Fun Saturday! I guess next Saturday will be Shopping Saturday to pick out a new camera....