Before we could go about our day, we had to face Lockelan's routine infusion of factor. Even without injury he gets two per week. Given our recent troubles, both Matt and I were a bit shook up. It did not go well. In fact, we managed to go though nearly ever needle we had while Lockelan cried so hard that he broke blood vessels around his eyes. You know, exactly what you hope will happen on your vacation.
I will spare you the painful details and assure you that it was a low point. Thankfully, our HTC is amazing. They immediately setup an overnight shipment of extra supplies since we had one more planned infusion for the week. They gave us a few tips as well. I thought for sure we were heading back to the ER and losing another day. Instead, we were told to try again in the evening and if it didn't work then wait until the next day. That was a huge relief. Matt and I did our best to pull ourselves together for the sake of the kids. We were terribly behind schedule.
When we arrived at the Science Center, we were greeted with a large ball maze that took up much of the ceiling in the lobby. We were all fascinated by it.
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| What has Lockelan spotted? |
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| A large anamatronic T-Rex! |
The anamatronic dinosaur display was certainly the highlight for everyone. Both William and Lockelan watched it for quite some time. The dinosaur area also offered an area to dig for fossils.
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| Dino Diggin' |
We then moved to an area about energy. The kids enjoyed a number of the exhibits there.
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| I don't think Lockelan learned much about electricity but he loved pushing the button. |
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| Matt and Lockelan are putting coal in the fire. |
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| William is adding coal too. He was trying to add it faster than Matt. |
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| Elora learned how power plants distribute power to neighborhoods. |
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| Elora and William tried different windmill designs to see which created the most electricity. |
I really enjoyed the Human Adventure area. It offered a number of activities that showed unusual ways that our senses work. It included various puzzles, brain teasers and optical illusions.
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| Lockelan found something he enjoyed. |
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| This is a large model of the Tower of Hanoi puzzle. They didn't understand the game but they loved moving the large discs. |
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| Elora loved the classic mirror illusion where it looked like she was flying. |
One of my favorites was performing an experiment with Elora. We extracted the DNA from wheat. Even that turned into a discussion about how Lockelan’s hemophilia is a genetic mutation derived from his DNA. They had a number of hands on science stations for children ages 5 and older. It was setup well.
The facility had a Build a Bear Workshop that offered a unique set of dinosaurs. Each of us, with the exception of Matt, made one. Elora picked out a pink dino which she named Pinkasauras. She also added a dino roar. William chose a triceratops and named him Fluffy. Yes, he picked out the name all on his own. Lockelan fell in love with a blue T-rex while I picked out a veloceraptor and named him Steve.
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| Fluffy getting fluffed. |
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| William was very particular about Fluffy's bath. It was an extensive cleaning process. |
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| Lockelan understood the concept quite well and picked out the heart himself. |
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| The is the best photo collective photo we got of our new dino friends. |
While the children enjoyed their experience, for the most part, the exhibits were geared towards older children. Honestly, I think the Magic House might have been a better fit for us. I think the Science Museum is better suited for ages 8 and up.
There was a fabulous area called the Discovery Room which was specifically for the younger crowd. I was able to see in the area and it was incredible. The issue is that they offer 45 minute play sessions so it isn't open access. The website stated sessions are available every hour on the hour. Much to my surprise, they were still operating until their Winter hours (at the end of April) and sessions ended at 1:00, which was around the time we had arrived due to the infusion fiasco. I wasn't the happiest of campers about that one.
So if you do find yourself going there with younger children, I highly suggest calling ahead to see the times of the play sessions and consider making a play reservation.
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| Clearly, everyone had fun. |
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| The dino friends enjoyed some time together around the table. |
I spent the entire trip back to the resort dreading the impending final attempt at infusion factor for Lockelan. To everyone’s surprise, Matt found a vein the held for most of the process. It blew right before the line was cleared. This means he received at least 95%. We both felt extremely accomplished and relieved.
