We started off our vacation in the Baltimore area so I could help with my niece and nephew. I decided to be extra ambitious and planned a couple of field trips. I’m pretty used to taking Nick and Sally to different attractions, but it’s a whole different ball game to take 4 kids. The first day we traveled down to the Inner Harbor and went to the Maryland Science Center. I had given my niece and nephew a membership for their birthdays and our Cleveland Museum of Natural History membership was reciprocal. I missed the parking deck, but was able to find on street parking in a residential neighborhood just 2 blocks further.
After entering the museum, the Rube Goldberg device grabbed everyone’s attention.
While my nephew continued to be mesmerized by the machine, the others enjoyed some of the other attractions in the Newton’s Alley room.
Since we got there right at 10AM on a weekday, it wasn’t crowded.
Next, we visited the efficient car exhibit.
The kids took turns designing cars on the screen. Anything that you are allowed to touch usually is loved.
Nick knew just what to do with the sound reflector. Turns out, it wasn’t his first time seeing one.
Eventually, we made our way to the kids room. It was great. It was staffed at the door and that made it super easy to keep track of everyone. I found my lifeguarding surveillance skills being put to good use during our outing.
Everyone seems to enjoy the train table.
Sally’s favorite was water play. My niece liked it too.
There was something for everyone in the kid’s room.
I let Nick participate in a Johns Hopkins research study about kids and math. Nick loved it. My favorite part was when the researcher showed him a piece of paper with a seven and a four on it. She asked him which one was bigger. He told her that they were the same size (meaning that the font/height was the same). At the end of our outing, I tried to get a group shot of the kids. Turns out there was an experiment being set up behind me, so it was hard to get them to look at me.
So, we went over and checked out the demo before departing. Once we got back to the car, we had picnic style lunch at the car.
It was a great outing and gave me confidence for the next adventure.