So I had a Saturday off but John had to meet all day at church so the girls and I decided to meet Grandma Holly in Pasadena the the Kid Space museum. None of us had ever been so we weren't at all sure what to expect. We were very pleasantly surprised by how much there was to do and how long the girls stayed engaged in the activities. On the way there we were all pretty excited to find ourselves along the Rose Parade route. The girls practiced their princess waves to the long gone crowds. We beat Grandma to the museum by a few minutes so the girls got to play at the park next door. Emily finally got to show me her "flamingo" move on the bars.
Once we got inside it was hard to decide what to do first. Everything looked so interesting. We figured out that the main theme of the building was bugs. Everywhere we looked there were real bugs to look at (in boxes of course) or bug activities to do. The girls favorite was the two climbing structures that took them 2 stories above the floor in tree type fashion. I even got talked into joining them. It was a tight squeeze through some of those twists and turns!
Outside there was even more to check out. The girls very quickly met a new friend, Jane, who they stayed with most of the day. Here they are acting like orangutans:
There was a trike roadway to play on. Emily has gotten to the point where she is too big for some of the activities. When she was riding, her knees kept hitting her chin and she wound up being one of the slowest trikes on the road. We called her the "Little Old Lady in Pasadena". She still found a way to participate:
Back inside at Bugsy's Diner:
I called this the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Roaches
On the spider web climber:
Rock walls are always a hit now
Later in the day we were in the "Research Room" and kept seeing point values next to different rocks and shells. We found out that there were scavenger hunts that the girls could do to earn points and the items. The girls were all over it. They ran around outside following the instructions and finished the scavenger hunt in no time. They wanted to do another one but the museum was out of age appropriate hunts for them. The guide put together another project for them so they could earn more points. They turned on their best student faces to do some research. At the end of the day they each walked away with a bag full of pretty shells to show for their hard work. 
I can always tell when it's been a successful outing when they are asking when we will return before we have even left. I think a spring or summer return will be perfect. There were lots of water features that would be really fun to investigate too. The signs all said that swim suits and sandals are acceptable attire for a visit.
