Wacky Wednesday

Ezra’s school has early dismissal on Wednesdays — 1:00 versus the regular 2:45 — so we have the whole afternoon together. Yesterday, in an effort to not win the Worst Mother of the Year award, I took the boys on an outing to the California Science Center. Ezra has been begging me to take him since we got back from Belize, but I was much too discombobulated last week to manage it. He loves the place, and he also wanted to get some Goobi magnetic construction toys from their gift shop.

We spent almost the entire visit in the Ecosystems exhibit, starting with the desert room. Finn loved (and waved to) the chuckwalla.

Finn waves to the chuckwalla at the Science Center

We went outside to find a mini ocean, complete with a ton of sea creatures and an area where you can pet some of them. Neither boy wanted to touch anything. Ezra was more interested in a display where you try to catch flying ping pong balls, which is meant to simulate how difficult it is for barnacles to catch their food. I think the meaning of the display was lost on him, but he could have stayed there forever trying to catch the balls.

Ezra loved this exhibit

Once inside again, we found another ping pong display. This one had different mechanisms to shoot the balls into a hole in the middle, simulating how different animals get to islands. Finn had a grand time when he found one he was good at — he celebrated each successful launch with a karate kick and “hi ya!”

Finn celebrates success

They also both liked the oversized nest (with sticks and eggs) and spent some time protecting their eggs.

Ezra protecting his eggs in the nest

We left in time to beat the traffic home. All in all, a successful outing. (And Ezra got his Goobi set, too.)