We’ve been trying to meet up with my cousins at the Boston Museum of Science for most of the Spring, but we managed to have most of us ill during that time, and didn’t want to get their baby sick. But this Saturday, we pulled it off, and even got to see another cousin ‘home’ from college!
For once the sun shone a while (we’ve had 19/23 days cloudy and rainy this month so far, I must be off on the count though, it’s the 26th). It felt so cheerful. We parked in Cambridge near their condominium, using their visitor’s parking permit, then walked together the half mile or so to the museum. Cousin K called one of her friends on the cell phone to meet up with us later once her baby had finished his nap.
We had to see the cliff triceratops fossil first. Baby K was quite intimidated. She held my hand and didn’t want to walk around the exhibit much. She pointed to the life sized T-Rex model (they definitely look bigger with muscles and skin on, bones are friendlier.) and asked, "Gog-gy?" one of the docents said, "No, Di-no-saur." K looked at me and asked again, "Gog-gy?" I said, "It was an animal, yes. It was called a dinosaur. " She seemed satisfied then, but did not want to let go my hand until we got to the now closed critter-cam exhibit, where we could see the cameras that were attached to animals for animal view filming. The one of a cat eating a mouse was, ugh, oddly interesting?
The Critter-Cam exhibit had a wrap-up review game where you could match the type of camera attachment to a stuffed animal, then check yourself with a laminated card.
M and B tried to play seriously, but K just wanted to hug the "goggies," and play the "put things in and out of a container game." They were patient with her.
We took turns following K around and letting her ‘have her head.’ She was in an enclosed room, and there were 5 adults to the 2 kids, 1 toddler and 1 baby with an amazing grin.
Visiting the museum with cousin K was so much more comfortable than other trips, because local knowlege is gold. She and her buddies bring their babies there in the winter to have a large interesting indoor place to walk around and visit. They all are members, so they can drop in and stay as long or short a time as they need to. She knew were all the bathrooms were, and that the x-ray exhibit was quiet, dark, and not frequented much; the perfect place to nurse the babies and toddler.
She also explained how to get the ‘white noise’ for K working: buy a nature CD and play it on continuous repeat. I’d tried the ceiling fan, but it doesn’t cover the upstairs neighbor’s coming home from the late shift and climbing stairs, the little girl upstairs falling out of bed, then running to her mom’s room, or the loud refrigerator motor coming on in the kitchen. My little girl wakes up so easily (and specifically calls for Momma, although this morning she did ask, " ‘ere iz ‘ee?" and wanted DADDY, even though I was the one who had gotten up to find that out.) Any way, I bought a surf sound CD at the museum store (enjoying my nifty member discount) and tried it. This week she’s had 3 nights where she only got me up once. And she does seem to sleep through the refrigerator too. I’d heard of buying white noise machines, and noisy fans, but that seemed goofy to me. Cousin K explained how to make it work using stuff I already had, and without making me feel dumb!
Cousin K’s friend joined us for lunch. (cell phones are another tecky thing I just don’t "get,’ but I can see possibilities from watching cousin K) We pooled our resources and had chicken salad sandwiches, lunch meat sandwiches, chips, pretzles, gummy fruit snacks, apples, and straw-berry scones. The urbanites all had nifty water bottles, but we bought some orange juice and coffee from the cafeteria. We could watch cormorants diving and drying their wings on a bouy in the Charles River from the windows of the cafeteria.
We had to see the huge Vandergraf generator, the old computers, and the real skin suit space suit, like we’d seen on the internet site the Futures Channel. Cousin K and I kept the babies out of the electric show as their ear’s are too young for indoor thunder(but that just meant more girl-time, my Mom joined us)
B wanted to see the baby exhibit, and watched all 4 birthing naration videos. He thought the new borns were so cute. I think B will make a wonderful Dad someday.
After walking home, we ordered take out from Muqueca, while my cousin B dressed in his wait clothes, and walked over to ask for hours at the restaurant he is beginning to work at. K played with Buddy the dog, and Cousin K set the table.
Diner was awesome: Muqueca is a fish over rice dish with a veggitable sause sort of like a not too spicy salsa from Brazil. We also had Shrimp Bobo, a shrimp on rice dish with a sweet/spicy manioc thickened coconut sause, and some really tender beef. The boys loved it, Baby K couldn’t get enough black beans. For desert we had Edy’s fruit bars. K took to begging licks. She got grape juice all over her top, but Cousin K had oxyclean, and I pre-treated it after changing her into her backup outfit. Everyone slept well that night, and my new orthodics are working great, because my feet didn’t even hurt the next day, even with all that walking on concrete.
DH said it was a great father’s day trip.