The first room we entered was filled with dinosaurs! These are somewhat animated creatures that are 1/2 scale models. They periodically roar. Tyler was fascinated, but scared. We tried to get him to stand closer to one to get a good picture, but he wouldn't get anywhere close. Avery hardly noticed -- she just saw lots of room to run, and she ran!
Next, we went to the butterfly room. Tyler loves butterflies, and enjoyed getting close to them. We saw them flying and resting and even eating (bananas and oranges). We had to be very careful not to step on any, so we all watched our feet. Karl came close to killing one -- he stopped and discovered a butterfly between his feet. A close call!
We attended the preschool planetarium show. Avery slept through the show; Tyler enjoyed looking at the stars. He got to pet a stuffed bunny and a bear, shapes that were found in the stars.
What Tyler loved best was the water! Inside, there is a stream of water in the toddler's section. He didn't want to leave it. When his dad finally said, "No more water!" he had a small tantrum (no crying or yelling, just walking away very obviously angry).
Tyler and Avery had a lot of fun in the toddler's area.
We had pizza for lunch over at the Center House. I had a salad with blue cheese dressing; Avery dipped her pizza crust into my dressing, took a bite, made a face, then continued dipping and eating. Strange child!
Tyler was fascinated by the "penny flattening" machine in the Center House. An older man came by, wanting a souvenir penny. Tyler was gracious enough to pull the crank for him!
After lunch, we went to the movie "Bugs!". It was a great movie about insects in the rain forest, but it was too much for Tyler. All of those bugs that were bigger than him upset him, so he left to go to the bathroom and didn't come back. Avery, again, slept through the movie.
As we left the Science Center, Tyler saw an area with brass butterflies and dinosaurs imbedded in concrete -- a money-raising activity. Tyler immediately went over and started stomping on the brass objects. He said, "I stepping on butterflies!" with a huge grin on his face.
Next adventure: Tyler's 3rd birthday. Don't tell him what Nama bought him: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4072664.
