The Arizona Science Center

We had fun using the Culture Pass to get four free tickets to the Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix. We would probably have gone even without the free tickets, but it was nice to only pay $10 and not to shell out an additional $45.

The children had an absolutely great time. We all loved the physics room, with all the levers and pulleys. Here is Rob on a bed of nails... Robbie, Allison, and Johanna also tried it out.


Here is Allison using a system of three pulleys to raise herself, which she was able to do well. They also had a two-pulley chair, and a one-pulley chair. You have to have pretty good muscles to raise yourself on the single pulley chair. Remember your physics classes?

One of the neatest exhibits was a storm center. Everyone stood on a raised platform, and a little movie played that talked about violent weather. They showed a tornado, and the wind blew in circles. Then a thunderstorm, and the wind blew with strobe lights, and some "rain." Then lightning sparked a fire, and they added heat lamps... anyway, it's hard to describe, but the children really loved being in the storms and earthquakes.

The room they spent the most time on was the Lego Castle exhibits. It was pretty neat to see all the castles built of legos. Here is Neuschwanstein:


Here is Emily playing with the huge blocks. We had to drag her off kicking and screaming to see the rest of the exhibits.

Here are Allison and Johanna being eaten by the giant Lego Dragon:

Here is Robbie helping Emily down the slide.

Here are Dallin and Johanna dressed up in the princess and dragon outfits that they had in bins by the entrance to the "castle." The stained glass window in the background is made of transparent legos.

And last of all, here are Rob and Robbie using brainwaves to control a little ball. They had to limit their active brainwaves in order to push the ball toward each other. Whoever was able to relax the most won! Guess who won this match?