Air and Space and Old McDonald

Last month Katie went with her Dad to the Air and Space Museum in D.C. She was excited because her favorite band, Rocknoceros, played a show there that we've seen over and over on YouTube.

It was a beautiful Spring day and seemed a shame to spend it indoors but we followed through with our plan nonetheless. We parked a few blocks away and when Katie found out we'd have to walk a bit, she said, "Let's take the stroller in case I get tired." I was more than happy to oblige. We walked past the Smithsonian Castle and Katie said, "That's where Tinkerbell lives!" She wanted to go inside to see her but I said I didn't think she was home today. We strolled along the Mall and passed by the Carousel, which was a mistake because Katie wanted to ride it but I didn't have any cash on me (I forgot to go to an ATM on the way). Luckily, she was ok with skipping the Carousel for now.

We got to the museum and she wanted to see the rocket ships first. She loved looking way up at them and counting down, "10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..Blast off!". When she saw the replica of the lunar module she said, "That's where Rocknoceros was!" After looking at some more rocket ships, she said, "Let's go to Old McDonald!" So we did (they're inside the museum) and enjoyed a yummy lunch. Later, when she would tell people about her trip to the museum, she'd say she saw "rocket ships, airplanes, and Old McDonald!"

After lunch we looked at some of the big planes and even got to walk through some of them. She was concerned about two things mostly: 1) Where were the pilots? and 2) How do the planes get outside?

There's a section of the museum devoted to hands-on exhibits for kids of all ages that Katie enjoyed. There was a miniature air tunnel that she put a ball on to watch it float in the air in front of her. She recreated the same thing at home later with a balloon and our dehumidifier that blows air straight up.

After that we went to the planetarium to see a show about stars. When the show started and the place got dark, she thought it was neat, especially when the stars appeared overhead. But when the stars started spinning and Whoopi Goldberg's booming voice played loudly over the speakers, she didn't like it so much but then quickly fell asleep. Sound asleep. (quick aside: Whoopi Goldberg? Narrating a show about the universe? Really? I miss Carl Sagan).

After waking Katie up, we went outside for a quick picnic on the Mall in front of the "big white building" (the Capitol Building). Then it was time to head home and tell Mommy all about our big day at the museum.