Astronauts and Airplanes

During winter break, the aviation museum has been offering a discount rate for students. I had never been there before, so I thought we could try it out today.

When we arrived, Marina recognized that her dad has brought her there before. We went inside and saw an X-Wing fighter from Star Wars. Marina was very excited to see it. Next we found a temporary exhibit called Be the Astronaut. The three steps took us through the navigation, science and flight of space missions, Marina tried several different paths. First she flew to the moon. Then she landed on Mars. Her final trip was driving on Mars. She liked that one best.

After we went through the astronaut exhibit, we looked around the rest of the museum. There were many full-size airplanes on display which we looked at. Hidden in the back we found Anakin’s pod racer from The Phantom Menace. Marina couldn’t believe it.

We looked at clothing worn by aviators and badges they earned. We even saw sample cockpits of several planes. While we were looking around, Marina told me that airplanes “aren’t her thing.” So we didn’t spent too much more time there.

When we got home I made dinner and we ate while watching Wonder Woman.

Pirates!

Marina is on Spring Break, so we went to see the new Pirate Exhibit today with our friend Bethany. Apparently, many other people did too. The Museum was packed, but we had fun anyway. We spent time at the space exhibit where Marina asked an astronaut on Mars a question about his weather research. In the hall of gems and minerals, she was most excited by the gems - most of all the aquamarines, her birthstone.

After lunch, we checked out the health exhibit and the dinosaurs. Marina made her own pirate hat before we went in to see them. The pirate exhibit was very interesting. We learned quite a bit about real pirates, some of which was very dark. But Marina seemed to deal with that well. Her favorite part was the treasure map she was given to find activities through the exhibit. She also enjoyed looking at the treasure on display. She even weighed some gold. At the end she spoke with a pirate. She informed him the gem and mineral all was 33 paces from the main entrance. He was pleased. As we left, she got a parrot stamp for her hand. By then we were quite tired and ready to head home.