COSI in Columbus OH

I always look on the ASTC site when we are in an area to see what museums we can get into with our membership. Like I have said before this membership has saved us SO MUCH money and has allowed us to go to more places then I would have paid for. I looked on the site and found that COSI was about 2 hours from us. COSI stands for Center of Science and Industry. Now we have been to MANY science museums over the last couple of years. Many of them have a lot of the same stuff but this was was different. It had the old stand by exhibits but it had some amazing thing as well. 

First on the list of things to do when we got there was of course the Planetarium. Eric wants to be an astronomer when he grows up so I make it a point to visit all the planetariums around us. This one we did have to pay extra to get in to. It was a COSI original film so that was nice since we have seen most of the planetarium shows before. I of course wore my space leggings from LLR, Eric has on his mickey space shirt, and William had on his cats in space shirt. We like to dress for the occasion. LOL And yes, that is Zoey in her Rapunzel pajamas. She refuses to admit they are pajamas and not a princess dress so whatever. She is happy. After the show we were talking with the guy who ran it and he let us go up top and see how everything is ran. The kids always like this part. Don't be scared to ask if you can see this kind of stuff. They often love to let you and often will pull up whatever you want.  

Waiting for the show to start.

After the show we got to ride this balance bike. It was a bike with a huge weight on the bottom and you pedaled it our over the entrance of the museum. We had not worn sneakers but they ones here you could use with those little booties like at show stores. It totally saved my day! So they pedal backwards to get to the end then have to go forward. The faster you go the easier it is. If you go slow you will get stuck, as Ashton learned. They had to call the guy on the ground to get the hook to pull him back in. I can't tell you how hard we laughed! 

All the boys taking their turn. That is where Ashton got stuck. 

I really liked that they had kid sized sinks for the little ones to wash their hands. 

They had a special exhibit that we made it for. It was video games. A whole section just FULL of video games. There were no pictures allowed but my kids could have spent all day in there if I had let them. They had old school arcade games, 3DS stations, computer games, newer arcade games, Play Stations, XBox, Wii, basically any type of video game ever made was there. It was amazing. Outside the game section they had some displays you could take pictures with. 

The brave knight battles the dragon to save the princess

This box had a button that made the coin sound when you hit it. So much fun! 

They had a guy with a tarantula. William and I are the only ones that touched it. 

There was a really cool Ocean area with lots of water play opportunities. The entrance was beautiful Like going into an underwater cavern. They had tubes you could link together to control the flow of water, a water table with sand on an angle to learn about erosion, a mini sub, and more. It was a really neat area for the kids to just PLAY. 

THEY CROSSED THE STREAMS!!!!!

This was fun but some of the tubes we hard to get to stay together.

Such a pretty entrance. 

Our FAVORITE part by far was the Tech Studio. It is only open certain days and I really recommend if you have older kids you go when it is open. It makes this probably the coolest museum we have been to so far. They have an area for a recording studio, computers for MIDI music, 3-D printers that they LET YOU USE, a green screen, vinyl cutters, a laser cutter(they had just got it when we were there), soldering, and SO MUCH more! I mean this place was AMAZING. The staff was great and sat down with William and Eric to show them how to use the 3-D printing software. I texted the hubby and he was very jealous. We could have spent all day in here too. Really, if you are in the area you HAVE to stop by. They offer classes too so check those out if you have the time or live in the area. 

The 3-D printers

Eric made a cup. He was hoping it would be bigger but still SUPER cool. He really learned a lot about how to make a 3-D image and how to remove the middle and things like that. 

William made a cube with a face that protrudes. It was very cool. 

Ashton spent most of his time making music. He had about 5 mins to make a 3-D shape so he made a sphere on a little inner tube type thing. 

Overall this is an AMAZING museum. The parking was a mess. They have a parking area and I paid for parking when we got the tickets for the planetarium. The guy did not give me a ticket though so when I left I had to pay again because it is not staffed and the only ticket I had was the one it gave me when I got there. So that was not cool. That was my only complaint though. It had a lot of original things that we have not seen at other museums and that is a huge plus to us. The kids all agree that it is one of their favorite museums we have been to. 

US Space and Rocket Center

So we decided to take the 2 hour dive to Huntsville AL and go to the US Space and Rocket Center. The kids love museums and especially space. I loved that it was FREE thanks to out ASTS reciprocal membership. We got there and were in awe looking at all the rocket models they have all over outside. We went inside and the first thing we came across was a little live science lesson. We of course stopped in to see what it was all about and all the kids were able to go up on stage using the huge air cannon to knock cups off adult's heads. I took some videos so I don't have many photos but they all had a blast. Eric was going to sit it out till he saw how fun it looked and quickly joined his siblings on stage. 

Ashton knocking a cup off someone's head. 

After the science show we went in the the room that was filled with all sorts of Archimedes' scientific concepts. We were only able to play in here a bit because a school group came in. We don't do crowds. LOL Especially full of school kids. We have come across some VERY polite groups and I always make a point to tell the chaperones how great their kids are. However, we have come across some VERY VERY rude kids too. Ones that I have watched push Zoey, take things from her, break things one purpose, ect. So we just avoid them as much as possible in case now. 

William in a Greek bath. 

William and Zoey building things with foam. Yes there was lots of hand sanitizer used after. 

They had a bunch of shapes and tape here for you to try out. 

Ashton trying his hand at it.

We then came across the activity I knew everyone was excited for, THE ROCK WALL! I had researched the museum before so I knew it was here and had made the kids put on shoes to come here. Usually we are a flip flop family but that has burned us at a museum before when we needed sneakers so I try and find out before hand if we need them. This rock wall is INCLUDED in the price of getting in! You can climb 3 times per turn and if there are not a lot of people they just ask you wait 20 mins before going again. Eric had been rock climbing once before with Boy Scouts so he was our resident expert. William was a bit nervous but I told him I would go with him. So first up was Eric and Ashton. The walls range from difficulty 1 on the left up to 12 on the right. Ashton picked level 1 and Eric did level 12. Ashton made it a tad up before he dropped and Eric went about half way before dropping to do an easier pass. They took their 3 turns and then it was time for William and I to go. Sadly there are no pictures, there IS a video but you will NEVER EVER EVER see it. OMG it is so not good. I did level 2 and William tried 3. We both made it abut 1/3 of the way up. Me a little more then he did. I decided I was done but then I had to get down..... yeah yelling JUST LET GO to someone (Me to Ashton) is A LOT easier then just letting go. Sorry Ashton. So I flopped gracefully fell down and took my other 2 turns. By this time a large group had appeared so I ended my last turn before I embarrassed myself any further. It was a blast but WAY more work then I thought it would be. Holy workout batman. The kids went again later in the day but I decided the bench looked a lot more fun LOL 

Eric climbing 

After the climb we found the Humvee simulator. It fits 4 people but the driver does not get to play so it was perfect for Zoey. She was so excited she was big enough to go on. It is basically a video game. The kids liked it but some of the remotes were having problems during the game. 

Getting ready to play

Eric playing the simulator

We were able to go through a little tour of the space station model they have. It is true to size and shows things like where they sleep, go to the bathroom, work, ect. It is a guided tour and takes maybe 20 minutes. It was really cool. After they have a few photo ops like this one of the viewing portal. The kids tried to make it look like they were floating in zero gravity. 

Yes, this was the best picture I got. LOL

We then went outside to go to the other building that help the Saturn V rocket. It is actually in pieces in the ceiling! Like the REAL ONE. Outside is a model but inside is the real deal. This building had a little play area for little ones which Zoey enjoyed. There was also something you could stand by to see what it felt like when they first had the blaster fire without a malfunction. It was kinda disappointing. It was not as loud as we thought it would be and we thought the little platform would vibrate. This building also has a lot of displays showing NASA's contribution to space exploration. It was a nice exhibit. 

The REAL Saturn V

Liftoff in 5,4,3,2,1

We then went outside to see the displays out there. There is a kid play area out here too but it was hot and the only one small enough was Zoey so we skipped it. Eric and Ashton rode on the G-Force Accelerator. Basically the Gravatron from when we were young at the carnival. This one was all boring safe and stuff. It had seatbelts, and was enclosed, and if you yell stop they stop it. 

We went back inside and played with some other stuff we wanted to go back to. The kids were not ready to go home. There were a few things we didn't get to do (one simulator outside had a line of Space Camp kids) or do as much as we wanted the first time so we tried to hit them again.

All in all we had a GREAT day and closed the place down. All in all we spent about 5 hours there. I thought it would be to long since most people said it only took them about 3 hours to see it all but my kids really like museums. We will definitely go back if we are within a couple hours of there.  I told Eric I even would have PAID for admission there. It is VERY rare for me to say that. Admission for 5-6 people anywhere is a lot of $$ but I totally would have paid for it. 

Museum of Arts and Sciences Macon, Ga

One of the favorite things my kids love to do is check out new museums. Since we have the ASTC membership this is a nice usually free thing to do. FREE is my favorite word! So I went ahead and found us the Macon Museaum of Arts and Sciences. I always wonder how nice these places are going to be when they are in smaller towns. I don't know why I am always so shocked when we find a really nice museum and the one in Macon was no exception.

We started int he little art gallery they had. Monkey really loved this section as he loves art. We had a nice time talking about the paintings, how they were made, what they might mean, and what they made us think/feel.

Next we headed to an area with a section where were got to make butterflies with tissue paper squares, saw different butterflies mounted in boxes, a big polar bear, and more.


Then we headed upstairs where they had a little play area. There were puzzles, art stuff, things to build, this cool light/screen thing where it made your shadow in different colors, these huge metal ball mirror things, and more. We actually went here twice during the visit. It was really fun up there.
After playing we headed outside for a bit to let Princess run around and Monkey finish his lunch before the animal show was due to start. They had a caboose outside which is my FAVORITE but sadly we could not go in it. So the kids just played around it and killed some time before the show.

We then went inside for the animal show. The brought out this bird Georgia. She was soooooo funny. I took some videos of her talking to us. Then they asked for a volunteer. The Boy got picked and had to hold something in his hand but they didn't tell him what it was. Well the video speaks for itself. He has learned to NEVER volunteer himself again! LMAO! Then they brought out the snake. Princess was in LOVE.

We then went to the basement level to dig for dinosaurs, work in the weather station, and learn about sound.

Last we stuck around till the guy came to run the gyroscope. Monkey was to short and The Boy and Cat Boy were wearing flip flops. You needed sneakers and thinkfully they have big feet so could fit in my sneakers. So I took my shoes off and let them use them. The Boy went first and LOVED it. I took video, it is long so I won't bore you with it. Cat Boy decided he was not ready to ride it just yet and that was just fine with me. He will do it when he is ready.


Overall it was a great day. We had a really great time and would not hesitate to go again. I would highly recommend it if you are every in the Macon area.

North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher

Since I was finally about to walk on my foot we decided to take a drive to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. The kids were really excited to be going to a museum and I was excited to be getting out of the RV. It was a little bit under a two hour drive but we didn't mind, especially since it was free to get in with our AZA reciprocity membership. Some of the pictures made it look a bit on the small side so we were a little worried we would be disappointed but boy were we WRONG!

We pulled in and immediately saw it was bigger then we thought. The kids were super excited to go in and we couldn't get in fast enough. The first section is set up more as a viewing area of animals. Princess really likes going up to the tanks and looking in at all the things. We got to see an Albino Alligator which was pretty cool. They also had a little table set up where we could see alligator skulls and learn things about the alligators.

While the first section was interesting we were really excited when we walked into the second area. It was full of great hands on activities that kids (and adults) just really love. We got to touch some sea anemone. There are a few videos at the end of the post of us touching them and making them go back in. They also had a spot to touch sharks. They are just little sharks that don't bite but it was still cool. I got a video of the kids petting them as well. There was some great info about turtles and how they hatch, how littering effect the sea life, and so much more. We all learned a lot.

They had a little show with a diver in a tank and you could talk to him while he was in the tank. I sat on a bench while we waited for the show to start while the boys went off to explore some other things in the same room. The little tank show was pretty neat and the kids really enjoyed sitting up close and learning stuff. Monkey was a bit bummed we didn't live close because they have a youth volunteer program there he was interested in. He is to young now but we will have to look for something similar when he is older. After the show the kids wanted to head outside to the playground for a bit. It was pretty chilly out so we didn't stay out long but it was a really neat play area.

We headed back in and the kids went back to pet the sharks a bit more. Cat Boy and Monkey decided they wanted to be crabs. We had a great time there and would recommend it to everyone. We will definitely go again if we find ourselves in the area again.