OMSI

We checked off another item from our to-do list on Saturday when we visited OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. One display had dinosaurs, both of the skeletal and animatronic varieties. The three big kids thought the robot dinosaurs were awesome, particularly when they roared and thrashed. Sophie was not a fan. She and Bryan ended up waiting in the hall while the rest of us walked through the exhibit.

Sophie found the kid-friendly Science Playground much more to her liking. She and I spent some time in the baby section playing with noisemakers.

The museum is built on the Willamette River, seen here out some of the windows. We didn't visit the exhibit parked in the river. For a higher admission fee and an hour of your time you can tour a submarine. I thought it looked cool, but an hour of telling the kids to "be quiet and stopping touching things!" didn't appeal to either me or Bryan. We opted to wave at the sub from the window.

The kids got hands-on in the Earth Science room. Most of the displays taught about environmentalism, which makes sense because that's a big deal in Portland. I think the kids liked this one mostly because they could get their hands dirty.

There was another room devoted to the life sciences. We walked in and saw a large display that was labeled "Prenatal Development." I distracted the kids with a giant model of an ear while Bryan took a turn through the exhibit to see if that was something we were comfortable taking the kids to. It was not. And that is all that I will say about that.

I'm glad we went so we don't have to wonder what we would have missed if we hadn't gone, but I also don't think we would go again, even if we weren't moving across the country. Between OMSI and the Portland Children's Museum, the latter was much cooler. Still, it wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.