Tuesday, January 22, 2019

California Science Museum (Dec 28)

I am back-tracking a bit to post some of our activities around LA in December.  We were at the Science Center - sort of a random thing we decided to do that day since the boys were on school break.  A quick look at the new football/soccer stadium - Banc of California Stadium, which is home for the new Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC.  Maybe we might put that on our to-do someday :-)
The Natural History Museum of LA is just next door as well.  The parking lot was full when we drove by but a definite for next time.  Graham actually has been once for his school's field trip last year:
The (American) football stadium for the LA Rams is next door as well. The Rams returned to LA in 2016 and are off to the Superbowl next month. Woohooo...!!!  Okay, I digress but so much happening just around this one area.  How neat that this coliseum actually hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984.  And I am just reading online that Los Angeles will host again in 2028!  I wonder if we will still be living here then??!
By the way, those are statues of 2 naked bodies with no heads!  One male and one female, with all the correct anatomy visible. Ha!  I am actually shocked that these statues are out on display. Not something you see a lot here in the US I think compared to Europe.

Okay, Science Museum... here we come!
Pretty neat light display by the entrance:
We are greeted by a couple of really cool jets!  The King Tut exhibit is here too but we opted not to do it.  And later on, we did discover that the Space Shuttle Endeavour is also here and we need to actually pay to see it!  If we had known, we probably would have bought tickets for both but then again, we weren't really planning on that today.

By the way, here's a little history lesson:  The Endeavour is spelled in the British English manner as it is named after the British HMS Endeavour - the ship that took Captain James Cook on his first voyage of discovery (1768-1771).  And crazy enough, the Space Shuttle actually carried a piece of the original wood from the ship inside the cockpit!
Daddy thinking hard about this one:
Some cool looking satellites but obviously not actual size:
These capsules on the other hand are the real thing!
I don't remember what this one is now... but definitely very interesting looking:
I can't imagine having to eat freeze-dried food all the time:
This capsule was really neat.  You can actually see all those burn marks at the bottom of it from the re-entry into the atmosphere.  I can't imagine sitting in this little capsule - wondering IF you will make it back onto Earth!?!
Graham and Charlie having a little bit of fun (when are they not!):
Uhhh... yes... that's a bicycle up there!  Cycling on a tight rope - nope, we didn't do it!
We head up to the next level and there are more things for the boys to play with:
All the kids wanted to get on this simulator of a bi-plane:
Daddy was not too bothered with the wait as he was busy surfing on the phone. Ha!
Somehow, we managed to sneak into the Endeavour exhibit.  It was an honest mistake!
Above is the ACTUAL mission control center for the Endeavour and below is one of the photos that was on display - with the Endeavour moving along downtown to the Science Center. So cool!!!  Just look at how huge that shuttle is and look at how many people there were that came out to see it!
Once we realized that we couldn't actually see the Endeavour without paying, we decided to check out the other FREE stuff around.  Some of the displays were a bit tight I thought - parents not having a lot of room to move around:
There was a section that demonstrated a flash flood and obviously Graham wanted to be right in it - in the "soak zone":
Now you see him, now you don't! He got soaked all right that he ran away from the area.  Ha ha!!!
Here is another look at the bicycle tight rope.  It was 3-stories up and none of us went for it :-D
Another different section of the science center about reusable energy.  I remember seeing these solar cars on TV a long time ago.  It's amazing how far electric cars have come now in comparison!
A great day at the Science Center today.  Salute from the boys :-)
We decided to walk across the street to the soccer stadium where there is a collection of restaurants and kids get to eat for free.  We were standing at the entrance and then someone walking by waved and jumped and WOAH!!! It's an interactive display!!!  TOO COOL!!!
When Bobby saw this, he started acting like a kid and running up and down the lobby of the building. What cool technology that traces your movements!!!  The kids were a bit short for the display to register so we had to carry them a bit so they could join in on the fun too:
Unfortunately, the kids' meals were just so so but the fried chicken sandwich with a Korean twist was pretty yummy.  It is dark by the time we get done.  Another look at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Another day in the books! :-D

No comments: