Author: TechyDad

Science Museum Fun

Educational, Museum, Photos, Science, Technology

P1080754On Saturday, my parents were in town and we were trying to decide what to do with them and the boys.  At first, we thought about Hoffman’s, a local amusement park, but the clouds in the sky threatened to rain (and carried through on their threat once or twice).  Then, we tried to go to the New York State Museum, but there was some event going on that shut much of that area down.  After finding a spot to park and regroup, we decided to go to the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology.

We entered, paid, and found out that a show – Astronaut – was going to begin in a minute or two.  So we went there first.

When you enter the planitarium, you notice the odd seating arrangement.  Except for some chairs at the back, all of the seating comes in the form of colorful mats to lay down on.  These were surprisingly comfortable and afforded a great view of the screen as we looked up.  Yes, the screen is on the ceiling.

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The movie was great.  It detailed just what astronauts need to do to get ready to go into space and what dangers awaited them.  ("Chad" better get some hazard pay after he was killed so many times!)

After the show, we wandered around the museum.  Since this is a children’s museum, not only are kids allowed to touch most of the exhibits, they are encouraged to.  We rotated windmills to generate power for a town.  JSL touched a snake.  We saw two owls.  We (well, the boys and I) entered a beaver’s lodge.  JSL rowed a canoe.  We even made some virtual trees grow by touching a wall.

There was too much to describe everything, so instead here are a series of photos from our visit.

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In the end, this was a fun and educational excursion.  Given that it is inexpensive as well (adults and children over 2 are only $5 each and shows are an additional $1 each), I could definitely see this becoming a repeat destination.

A Bloggess Book Pre-Review

Books, Review

theboggess_bookOn Saturday, a package arrived from Amazon.  There were a few items in it that I knew of (some crafting supplies), but B was very secretive of one of them.  She told the boys to give me my early Father’s Day present: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess.

Now, this isn’t a book review.  For this to be a book review, I would have had to have read the whole book.  No, I’ve only finished 3 of the book’s 33 chapters.  (And, no, I’m not counting the Introduction or Epilogue in either of those because they don’t count.  They’re no real chapters just like Pluto’s not a real planet.  And, yes, I realize that this parenthetical is way too long.)

At one time, I would have locked myself in a room with the book, shut out the world, and finished it in a day.  Maybe two.  However, nowadays, I can’t do this for various reasons.  Kids tend to get cranky when Dad’s been reading a book for hours instead of feeding them.  They get really cranky when Dad chooses reading a book over attending their birthday party.  (As do relatives visiting from out-of-town.)

So this is not a full book review.  Instead, consider it a book pre-review.  I’ve read enough to form an initial opinion.  And that opinion is: I’m hooked.

You might know that I’ve been through some stressful times recently.  I’ve come to rely on video games for stress relief.  Jenny’s book has now been added to my stress relief quiver.  Nothing cures stress like laughing and a few minutes with Jenny’s book had me giggling like Anderson Cooper.

Normally, I don’t giggle as high-pitched as Anderson does, but Jenny’s hilarious stories totally triggered fits of giggles in me.  After a mere five minutes of reading, I felt my stress melt away and I began joking with everyone.  I felt in a better mood than I had felt in some time.  Jenny’s book is filled with funny stories of her experiences growing up.  Experiences that made my own life look downright boring.  From what I’ve read of it, I’d definitely recommend Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson.

Aloha Friday: Stress Relief

Aloha Friday, Stress, Video Games

A few days ago, I felt like I was at the end of my rope.  So many stressful events happened one after another, pulling me in so many different directions that I just couldn’t take it anymore.  All I wanted to do was find a dark corner and hide from the world.  About the only thing that I felt like doing was playing Lego Batman on the Nintendo DS.

Last August, I wrote about NHL’s and my gaming addiction.  Since then, we’ve moved from Lego Harry Potter to Lego Indiana Jones and from that to Lego Batman.  I really like that Lego Batman lets you play in "Villain Mode" to help further their evil schemes… But more on that when I get around to reviewing the game.

I’ve found that, when I get stressed like this, I don’t function well.  All of my motivation to do that tasks that I need to do disappears.  Making myself complete them seems as hard as scaling a mountain.

Instead, I need escape from the situation.  Since I don’t have any friends locally, I can’t just head out with the guys.  Cooking is sometimes a stress reliever, but then I need to clean up from the cooking which adds more stress.  Watching TV will sometimes suffice, but I like being actively involved and feeling like I’m accomplishing something.

Enter video games.

Lego Batman isn’t so difficult that I’ll get frustrated by it.  And yet, it isn’t so simple that I feel like I’m not surmounting a challenge.  I can play it for a bit, allow my mind to forget all of my stressful thoughts for a time and feel like I’ve accomplished something.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: What do you do when you’re stressed?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #142

The Day I Became Doc McStuffins

Disney, Fatherhood, NHL, Toys

TurtleMy kids love the new Disney Junior show, Doc McStuffins.  They love the characters, the songs, and even the lessons about staying healthy.  Of course, the fact that the show has a plethora of toys for Doc to interact with doesn’t hurt.

I’ve written before about Doc’s father, but the other day, I felt like Doc herself.  The kids were getting ready for bed.  They were in their PJs, nighttime allergy medicine was taken, teeth were brushed and they were climbing into their beds.  As NHL picked out which toys he wanted to cuddle with that night, he let out a cry.  Something was seriously wrong.

I came to see what was the matter and he explained that his turtle’s leg was coming loose.  This was a turtle that he had won at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration Dinoland party.  I checked the turtle out and immediately saw the problem: A busted seam.  It was bad, but completely fixable.  I reassured NHL, took the turtle with me, got my sewing kit and got to work.

Stitch

Pretty soon, the leg (fin?) was fixed.  The stitching might not have been as clean as the original, but I reinforced mine so that it would last.  Plus, it’s not really that noticeable unless you really look for it.

My only disappointment was that, in hindsight, I wish I had taken some photos of the busted seam and the sewing in progress.  My mind wasn’t focused on "This is a blog post in the making", though.  Instead, it was mainly focused on "I’m fixing NHL’s stuffed animal the way Doc McStuffins would fix a toy."

Yes, I channeled my inner Doc to get his toy feeling better.  And, yes, I was a little disappointed when the turtle didn’t leap up post-toy-surgery to sing "I feel better!"  Still, The appreciation from NHL when he saw his turtle was fixed beat any magical turtle serenade.

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