i love field trips!

we had the distinct pleasure yesterday (due to an extended weekend for president's day) of going down to philadelphia to visit one of the favorite museums of my childhood, the franklin institute. as in, ben franklin. fascinating man, and philadelphia is full of so much history. they have a special narnia (as in chronicles of) exhibit going on right now that the kids were anxious to see.

what kind of seats do you expect to see inside a science museum? bones, of course.
mike had to turn the crank to "pump blood" through the blood vessels. he looks pretty good here considering he decided to throw up in traffic on the schuykill expressway when there was nowhere to pull over.
pete inside a blood vessell. like the shirt, grandma? found it at a goodwill store here for $1!
jack enjoyed being a blood cell inside the vessell too.
pete was entranced with the electricity room. here, he could push a button and send an electric current to slide a ring high across to the other side of the table.
nick took pete up into a real fighter jet in the flying room.
this is the part i remember most from my childhood---the giant heart. you can hear it beat throughout the room. the staircases are much narrower than i remember (or perhaps.... i've just gotten a lot bigger since i was 9). it still beat loudly but the kids really enjoyed it.
they come out an aorta and go back in by ventricle....
this is what your left ventricle should look like if it was healthy....
we were so disappointed that there was no photography inside the narnia exhibit. the people who went in ahead of us didn't care. they took pictures anyway. no one but me noticed when a large security guard woman came and quietly escorted them out of the exhibit.
the girls enjoyed the rock climbing wall in the sports competition room.

also in the sports competition room, the boys enjoyed testing their reflexes while "driving" dragster cars.

karis was afraid of getting a giant jug of gatorade dumped on her by an eagles player.
the statue of ben franklin as you enter. the building itself is an architectural wonder. built in the 1930s, it was only the 2nd planetarium built in the united states at the time.
they have a dramatic presentation every 15 minutes or so about the influence ben franklin had on the world. he invented many things and was always thinking outside the box. the boys liked how the colors changed on the statue.

we had a great day, though it was our first field trip in 18 years to not have a stroller to hold all the coats and bags and stuff. we've entered a new chapter, i believe!