3...2...1... Blast off!!

This week we have been studying space in preschool so we went down to Chicago on Wednesday for a field trip to Adler Planetarium.
It was one of the only museums in Chicago we hadn't gone to yet so we were pretty excited. I really liked that it has its own parking lot right next to it so we didn't have to walk too far outside because it was FREEZING!
Also, it was a free day which was great. It wasn't crowded at all so that was really nice.
Here are the girls all bundled up out front...

Our first stop was to the kids section called 'Planet Explorers'. The girls had a lot of fun in there and although it is a small area we spent a lot of time playing.
Abi enjoyed crawling through these tunnels and sticking out her head on the moon.
Maddy wanted to stay outside of the tunnels but liked watching Abi run around inside...

The girls got to get in the virtual take off chairs. Abi didn't want to do it until she saw Madeline do it. They just push buttons until take off and then once they are in space they have to move the little joystick around to dock with the space station.

Of course whenever there is one of these things we have to take pictures....

these X Movers were pretty cool. The floor was covered in these foam moon rocks and the kids could scoop them up and move them around with the X movers. There was a wheel inside the mover and when you spun it you could really drive it around.

Both girls enjoyed taking some time to build...

and slide...

Then we went over to pretend to be astronauts. First the girls did some maintenance work on their ship...

then they loaded it with things they would need on their voyage...

Abi pointing at the different kinds of food...

trying out an Astronaut bed...

She was a little confused by the toilet.

Abi liked setting off the air rocket. She had to pump it full of air and then push the button. When it blasted off it kind of startled her!

At this point we took a break for lunch.

After lunch we spent time exploring the rest of the Planetarium.
Abi was checking out the giant sun!

You can see all the planets ...

It is a very interactive museum which is great for kids. Even in the normal areas I think it is more kid friendly because there are lots of experiments and games to increase their understanding of things. Abi really enjoyed putting together these puzzles..

a virtual planet landing. I think it was Mars. I can't remember.

After checking out all of the upstairs exhibits, the girls wanted to go back to the kids section to play for a little while. Abi made a friend and they played for a while in the campfire area.

This was the vegetable garden. It was full of these little rock like pellets which was much nicer than having sand to play in.

Maddy wasn't sure about it at first but then she dug her little hands in and was having the best time. She buried her legs in there.

You can see the tip of her little boot sticking out. She kept grabbing at it thinking it was a vegetable.

When they were done playing we went down to the lower level. We found the Atwood Sphere and found out we needed to go back and pay to go in it but Abi really wanted to so I went and got the tickets. They were only $3 each so it wasn't bad and this turned out to be our favorite thing so I'm glad we did it.
You get in a little metal seat thing and go up a track into the sphere. Then the door comes down so you are enclosed inside with the worker. Our guide was Hans.

This thing is 100 years old. They didn't have projection when they made it so all the stars are holes poked right through it so the light shines through. All the constellations are outlined and the guide tells you about them and asks questions.
He asked how to find the north star and I was so proud that Abi knew!
Maddy really liked this too so it was a fun time all around.

Another great day in Chicago! Living close to it is definitely our favorite thing about living out here.