Great Lakes Science Center visit

This past Thursday we surprised the kids and took them on a 2 day mini getaway. Benjamin was already off of school for the 2 days, Bill decided to take 2 days much needed vacation time, and we pulled the other 2 for Thursday and Friday (something that I have never done before, but was needed). They had absolutely NO idea that we were going anywhere. We left our home around 8:15 Thursday morning and drove past their school and kept on driving. They were so confused. When we confessed that we were going to Cleveland for the next couple of days, Rebecca started crying because she wanted to go to school. (She was upset because we hadn't warned her ahead of time.).

So we headed up to Cleveland to visit the Great Lakes Science Center. This is a great place to visit as a family as there really is something for everyone.

The first exhibit we visited was the NASA Glenn Visitor Center. This was probably the highlight of the visit for me. It was very interesting and educational. I have always loved things that had to do with space and so this was really cool. They had lots of hands on activities for the kids, including an experiment where they turned a dial to build up different levels of pressure to blast off a rocket. Rebecca said that was her favorite part. They also had simulators where you had to land the space ship on the moon and on Earth.

Then we headed upstairs to the Science Phenomena exhibits. These were hands on science experiments that the kids (and adults) could partake in. The kids had so much fun on this floor trying different things and learning new things.

Then we headed down to their café for lunch. They had your standard café fair of sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers. I had a deluxe grilled cheese and fries. It was pretty good.

After lunch, we headed to another area titled "Build It! Engineering fun one brick at a time, presented by ArcelorMittal" where there was a Lego themed exhibits and interactive activities, like building a small mosaic, building with huge Legos, and making movies with Legos. The kids loved learning how to and making Lego movies.

After, we headed outside so that the kids could see Lake Erie. The Great Lakes Science Center sits on the edge of Lake Erie, and they actually have the William G. Mather Steamship, a 618 foot steamship, in the lake that is open in the summer for tours. The kids thought the outside of the ship was cool! I enjoyed seeing the ice that had formed on the rocks; it was so neat. And it was also FREEZING! The sun was out, but it felt like 10 degrees out. It was so cold!

We spent about 5 hours at the center. It was definitely worth the drive and it wasn't too busy, being during the week. There was a school group there where the adults weren't paying attention to the kids and they were being kind of wild, but overall, it was definitely a memorable destination.

After we left the Science Center, we headed south about half an hour to our next destination......