Hello, Sue.

Happy Valentine's Day! I bet you thought today was going to be a super cute post about Valentines and fun projects, right? I totally fooled you! (that is coming tomorrow for instafriday....my real camera died when I was going to take photos of the fun things we did). 

The Science Center of Iowa has a guest this winter: Sue the T-Rex from the Chicago Field Museum. It is a pretty big deal to have her and since we have a Science Center membership we haven't used as much as we should, Michael and I headed out for a little Saturday morning adventure. 

Seeing Sue in person was pretty cool. The Science Center was packed with people but Michael still got a chance to get a good look. They also had a copy of her skull that you could get up close to and look at but Michael said he thought "those big teeth were too scary for him".

We had a great time exploring the Science Center since it had been a year since we last visited. Michael loved the animals the best which makes me long for warm summer days at the zoo. His favorite continues to be this silly badger who looks so realistic hiding in the grass. 

We had a great time at the Science Center. By accident, it turned out to be an excellent test run for our upcoming Disney trip. How, you ask? 

• Gave me a test drive of my new rapid strap for my camera. It was awesome, very lightweight and I felt like my camera was easily accessible. However, it did bonk Michael in the head when he was walking behind me on that side. He quickly learned!
• Helped me gain perspective of crowds and lines. I had never been to the Science Center when it was so busy- there was a big line out the door to get in, a line for the IMAX movie, a 20 minute line for lunch, another 20 minute wait to get our food, line to get our parking ticket, line to get out of the ramp. It was crazy (in addition to the huge line we encountered earlier at the newly opened Dunkin' Donuts) and helped me realize that this is probably the way it is going to be at Disney....except 20x worse. 
• The food situation. I didn't even bring a purse in with me and we hadn't orirginally planned on eating lunch at the Science Center so I was very unprepared. I think Michael really only wanted a snack and something to drink so I was really kicking myself for not thinking ahead and bringing something. At Disney we are definitely planning on brown bagging it for meals and snacks so we can eat when we need to and not wait in line. 
• Michael running off.....yes, this happened. Luckily, it was when we were in the children's area but still it is nerve wracking. We had a talk and a time out about running off from Mommy but I am hoping it will be easier at Disney because we will be using a stroller. 
• The stress. I really thought I would be more overwhelmed by the crowd and people but it was fine. I think I am getting better at this since I am basically around crowds of stressed out people every day at school. :o) 

So I realize it is not exactly the same, but it gave me a good perspective on being in a crowded place and dealing with it. Overall, we had a great time and can't wait to go back to the Science Center...hopefully sooner rather than later as our pass expires in June!