Visiting the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum....or rather, visiting the stairs at the museum...

Recently I took my kids to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.  We have been there quite a few times but it is always a great place for them to burn off some energy.  This day was too cold for the park so the museum seemed a great idea as the airplanes always seem to fascinate.  Well, usually they fascinate, today was a little different. We looked at a couple planes, the "airplane with the teeth" being one of Wythe's favorites.

"I like the plane with the teeth!"

The airplanes quickly lost their appeal and within a matter of minutes I had two fussy children who seemed more interested in lying on the floor crying than running around burning off energy.  So I thought I'd distract them with something new...an IMAX film.
I thought this would be a good idea.  
In theory it was, and if there had been a mute button on the movie or if we had thought to bring earplugs it would have been quite enjoyable for all.  My son was fascinated but had to keep his hands over this ears. My daughter was not amused and did her best to crawl inside my body to hide. Although the movie was only about 40 minutes long it seemed to last hours, what with having a three year old trying to get under my skin.  Literally.

they are much happier now that the movie is over

I'm not inclined to load the kids in the van, drive almost an hour and pay $15 to park without having "made a day of it" so I desperately tried to interest them in the museum. The observation tower held their interest for awhile, though oddly enough as soon as we got up there the airplanes stopped flying. No airplanes, not a single one.

"look, I can see our van!"

Leaving the observation tower they stop the elevator at the floor that has an air traffic controller display. Not the most interesting for my kids, so I intended to skip it that day. However, when the elevator stopped they darted out and then the elevator operator closed the door and left. We were stuck in a room that had zero appeal to two fussy kids. So we waited, and waited, and waited.  Then we sat down on the floor and waited, we may have dozed off at one point.  Finally the elevator came back and we headed back down to the museum. The good part is after sitting on the floor in that dark, boring room for so long the airplanes seemed to regain some of their fascination for the children.

The space shuttle is always a hit or at least viewing it from the walkway is.

"We're happy now!"

I made a mistake pointing out the "R" on the plane. The kids wanted to have their picture taken with it and said "this is our plane!"  Great, I inadvertently caused my children to develop an affinity to the death machine known as the Enola Gay. 

kids: "this is our plane!" mom: *cringe*

By far the highlight of the day was the staircase. We went up and down and up and down, and again, repeat....  They were happy, not crying and it could only wear them out so why should I complain??

Here's why....

"mom, are you coming?"

....kids who are "too tired to walk" so they decided to crawl back to the van.

That's not embarrassing. At. All.

'til next time...