Saturday, March 26, 2011

Fun end to spring break....Museum of Science & Industry

To cap of our spring break we gave the girls a choice for Friday. Go to the Sears Tower (I know its ..it the Willis Tower, but I refuse to call it that), and head out on the sky deck, or go to the Museum of Science and Industry. I secretly wanted the tower. I still haven’t got to walk out on the new sky deck yet!!
They chose the museum…..

I’m going to let you in on a thrifty secret for anyone who might hit this museum. Parking is super expensive, $18 for under ground park. But if you park behind the museum (next the space entrance) its only $5 !!!!
Yep, way better deal. Plus the building is so pretty. You never get to see it if you go straight in :)

There’s so much to see there. Our first stop is always the baby chicks. Its always special to be able to see one hatch.
Nothing like being able to sit in a tractor tire!

The weather exhibit is pretty cool. The floor to ceiling tornado was our favorite!

I spy windows……of course my little princess was stuck at this window for a while. So many fairy tales in one place!
The model trains are always fun. You can follow them from the city to the farm lands & back.
The detail of the city & neighborhoods are amazing.


(Allison will like this one!….) When we stop for lunch we always sit close to the “Jollyball”. Its basically a giant pin ball machine. The ball rolls down & around setting off trains, cows, bells etc. It was created for a travel advertisement for the Swiss National Tourist office. It hits all of Switzerland’s main attractions.
It made it to the Guinness book of world records in 1988 for being the longest “flipper machine”. It takes about 4 or 5 minutes for the ball to roll through the whole thing! The entire piece is made from scraps salvaged from junkyards. Colorful & green too!


We stopped off to see the Wright Brothers replica plane. This one is special to us. My MIL & her company helped build the engine for this plane. It was very exciting!
 
 Before it made it to the museum they got to take it out for a trial run! When it was placed in the museum they had a big dinner for everyone ( including us !! ) in the exhibit. Then we were able to roam the museum. Since it was closed it was that much more fun!

There are so many other great spots to see here!

But you can’t leave the MSI with out buying this item for the ride home….


Astronaut ice cream! Tried a new flavor…..mint chocolate chip…yum!
Happy weekend everyone :)


16 comments:

Trollkjerringa1 said...

Thanks for sharing , loved the photo story ! Looked like you had such a great day at the museum :D Wishing we had astronaut ice cream here !

TexWisGirl said...

Great day! Something for everybody to enjoy there - including the take-home treat! :)

Lanell said...

I seriously could post some of the exact pictures of my kids when we visited there a couple years ago. When we went this past summer, the kids went with an ancle while I visited an old school friend. We love Chicago. We loved the baby chicks, the big tractor wheel, and we love the cycle of life exhibit. (I think that is at that museum). Perfect way to end spring break. The Sears Tower is awesome too. I have a funny story about that one.

Celia said...

Wow! $18 for parking. Those are very nice pictures. I hope I can go to Chicago some day.

Paula said...

I'd have chosen the museum too not being too good with heights. My son Alex would've loved it, it looks like a fun place to go.

Unknown said...

I have always wanted to make it to The Windy City!
Love your blog!
Hiya! Newest follower from Say Hi Sunday Hop-- please stop by and say hello! Would love if ya followed back!
♥cyn♥
http://cyn-thenutshell.blogspot.com/

lnevans said...

Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I'm following back! :o)
Lacie @ http://www.homegrowinghappiness.blogspot.com

Inger-M said...

Looks like you guys had a fun day in an awesome museum, thanks for sharing it with us! :-)

Heather Jones said...

Wow! What amazing exhibits. We've got nothing like this in the Phoenix area, although we do have Body World I think. I want to go, but might totally freak out our 2 year old. Probably have to wait til he is older to go. We live 2 hours outside of Phoenix. But anyway that last picture with all those little apartment buildings I never would have known was a model. It looks like a real place. The lighting looks so natural!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I am following back!

Treat and Trick said...

Fantastic places to visit! Thanks so much for stopping by and joining in my blog. Will be back to check out more...

http://treatntrick.blogspot.com

Allison said...

Oh, I do like it! But I love the entire post! :) You know I have a huge weak spot for Chicago...and this was a window into my beloved town. Thanks for that. Your girls' pony tails are so darling!! :D

Mel Creates Often said...

Great photos! My husband and I went there 10 years ago, and the science museum was pretty cool. I like that you buy upcycled items from charity shops. I am going to start checking those places out. Great way to contribute. Glad to follow you back!

Holly said...

This looks like so much fun! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am following you back. Can't wait to read more! :)

Tat said...

My kids like the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, it is somewhat similar to the museum you went to. I tried for a while taking them to different museums, just to make it more interesting for me, but the Powerhouse is the only one they were happy with, so I gave in and bought a membership in the end. Following you back, thanks for visiting me at muminsearch.com.

Dawn said...

I would have wanted the tower too;) BUT it looks like you had an awesome day:)

Clytie said...

What a wonderful time! It made me realize I haven't been to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) for many years. Must do that soon!