After lunch we dropped Courtney off at my in-laws and we took the other 4 to the space and science center. The plan was to go watch the newest I-max called "Rocky Mountain Express" but since we were there early we went to browse in the earth and environment section. Glad we did!
There was a fellow standing in a 'zone' that had a giant white ball hanging from the ceiling. He ushered us inside and wanted to show us a couple of things. We sat on the benches and as he played with a few buttons on his I-pad, the giant ball took on the appearance of the moon. He asked if anyone knew what it was. Of course the kids all said that it was the moon. Eric told him the moon was called Luna. The fellow showed us some neat things on the moon. He told us some neat facts about the 6 landings on the moon. We were told that the space and science center ACTUALLY had a piece of the moon in their building!
Then he changed the ball to look like a planet. He asked the kids which planet it was. Eric and Lindsay answered, "MARS!" Very good! The guy asked if they knew anything about Mars. Eric said that Mars had a lot of volcanoes. The guy then zeroed in on the largest volcano in our universe--which was indeed on Mars. He explained some landings on Mars by robots. The kids were pretty gripped. Next he showed the sun. Very cool! Eric especially was really into this exhibit. he knew most of the answers since space fascinates him so much. Unfortunately, we had to catch the I-max so we couldn't stay much longer, but we want to go see that exhibit again.
The I-max was SO good! It was about the building of the railroad through the Rocky Mountains in the late 1800;s and early 1900's. BC insisted that if they were going to be a part of Canada they expected the government to keep them connected to the rest of the country by rail. And so the task began. 40 men died in the surveying aspect of the work--travelling and mapping the line on horseback, boat and on foot. The winters were brutal.
The I-max showed the actual building of the railroad and all the difficulties the men encountered. These men only used primitive hand tools and black powder to get the job done. They had to build trestles, bridges, tunnels, rails and the like. On the really bad stretches, the men had days where they only got 5 feet done. It was averaged that for every mile of track laid in the Rocky mountains, 6 men died. There were Canadians, Japanese, Englishmen, Chinese, and Americans working on this line. Yes, they could've built the railway farther north, but the main reason for building the railway along the southern border of Canada was to keep the Americans from easily taking our land. So our blood, sweat and toil went into making this land the way it is.
This I-max made me proud to be a Canadian. My kids LOVED it. They were left with deep impressions. I highly recommend it. I must say...the best thing we did was buy that yearly family pass to the Science Center. The kids LOVE it there, and the pass has already long paid itself off.
After that, we went back to my in-laws. We went swimming with dad and the kids and then had supper with all of us. After supper I had a coffee (and that was a GOOD coffee--totally hit the spot!) and we chatted awhile before going home. Really, another great day.
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