Day at the Museum

We started at the Glass Pavilion, which we had not been to before.  We came in part way through a demonstration.  I started to take pictures, but Devin got restless, so I gave the camera to Liam.

 Liam:  He is getting the ball hot so he can shape it.

 Liam:  Now he is curving the ball.
Rachel:  He twirled the glass around when it was out of the furnace to keep it round.  He put it back in the heat a couple of times to warm it back up.

 Liam:  He used gravity to make the ball into a lamp shape.

 Liam:  Now he is twirling it while showing everyone the green mold.  The mold is the inside, I guess.

 Liam:  Now he is getting ready to break it off the pole.

 Liam:  Now he is burning the sharp end off the glass so he can carefully put it into the cooling device.

 Rachel:  The last thing he did before putting it into the cooling oven was to put a stamp on it to show that he was the one who made it.

 Rachel:  Devin was pretty inpatient in the stroller.  I figured that he couldn't do any harm in the Middle Ages display, so I let him out.  He loved it.  Even though the display was very dimly lit.

Liam:  I am trying to photo bomb mommy for taking Devin's picture but she is actually trying to take a picture of me.

Rachel:  I wanted to take a picture of the boys in front of this picture of "Lord Amherst."  I don't think this is the guy who started Amherst College.  He turns out to be an Englishman who went on a diplomatic trip to China but was unsuccessful in making a deal because he refused to "compromise."  The British were very happy with this.  So I guess politics hasn't changed much since the 1800's.

Also in this gallery I was informed that people are supposed to stay at least two feet from the exhibits.  Really I think it that case most of the galleries should be bigger.  And kids are not allowed to push strollers, only adults.  Now I know.  After that we found an approved location for snacking and let Devin out of the stroller again.

Liam:  Ay yi yi.  Devin keeps running away from me but I keep having to try to block him so he doesn't go off in random places in the museum.

Rachel:  This was the first time I used the GPS on my phone to try to get somewhere in the big city.  It worked pretty well for getting there except that it directed me to the parking across the street.  Which I guess was good because we probably wouldn't have seen the glass blowing otherwise.  BUT when we left that building we had to cross the street to get to the main museum.  And THEN I couldn't figure out how to get the stroller up the steps to the front doors.  Which turned out to be because they were locked (I discovered after picking up the stroller and lugging a very irate Devin up the stairs.)  It turns out you have to walk all the way around to the back of the museum to get in.  There's parking back there, but apparently the GPS doesn't know about it or doesn't know how to get to it.

When I asked him afterward Liam said his favorite parts were the spinning door and the Lego type blocks that smelled like sea weed.  They were actually made of green tea and were for sale in the museum store.  A three inch square box costs about $33.  As much as I love sustainable items....

We ate lunch at a nearby fast food place.  Then GPS failed me because it didn't tell me to turn right or left out of the parking lot - only "southeast."  Listen sweetie, the reason I'm using GPS is that I have no idea where southeast is.  So I went the wrong way.  But it got me turned around, only to fail to realize that the ramp it wanted me to take was closed.  I managed to straighten it out, though and we made it home.  Devin fell asleep, but by some miracle he fell back asleep after we got home.