Twister!

MORNING MOVIE: Yesterday evening I received an email from Pacific Science Theater announcing the grand re-opening of of a movie theater onsite. To celebrate the improvement, we were offered free tickets to a show today. Well you know us - free = yes please!

We showed up at 10:30 for the 10:45 movie. I knew where the old theater was and so that's where we reported. However, we had to walk over and around CAUTION tape to get there and we were The Only People in "line." The doors were shut and there were ZERO signs indicating anything about any movie whatsoever. It made me wonder if we were in the right place,  of course. So, I whipped out my cell phone and actually called guest services. Unfortunately, the man who fielded my call was rather rude. When I asked where the movie was showing, the smart a$$ said, "At Pacific Science Center." Well no $h*& Sherlock. I told him we were standing there, outside the old Eames Theater, freezing, and it was a ghost town with no signs or signs of life. He said we were in the right place. Super.

Fortunately, about five minutes after his "help" an usher came out and welcomed us, saying we were the very first people in the brand new theater.

We were SO happily surprised upon walking in. Last time we'd been there it was for a Lewis & Clark movie and the space, though functional, was hardly inviting. But the new and VASTLY improved PACCAR IMAX Theater is lovely. The sound and visuals were fantastic and the seats, with a mid century modern upholstery and wooden arms, were beautiful and comfortable.

Just moments after we sat down, the usher came over with free T-shirts for the kids for being early birds. Sweet!

The movie,  "Tornado Alley," was thrilling and super educational. I was happy with how much focus there was on the science of storm chasing.

When we got home, Bee promptly set about making her own tornado chasing vehicle out of LEGOs. She invested a fair amount of time on it, and had interesting things to say about her different design elements.

STATION TO STATION: After the movie, we made our way to the Center House. With blue skies overhead, we stopped along the way for a Space Needle photo opp. Can you find CeeJ and Bee mixed in with the mosaic/mural?

The draw in the Center House was the annual model train display. This year didn't disappoint.

DRAWING BOARD: Not surprisingly, we had our eyes on NASA goings on today. We watched a replay of the early morning launch of a Soyuz rocket carrying a Russian, an American (from Silverton, Ore.)  and a Ductchman, ISS bound. We checked out cool photos of the surface of asteroid Vesta compliments of . We checked out the parachute landing tests for the future Orion capsule.  

And last, but not least, the kids took a crack at drawing the Space Shuttle. A few of my space geek friends had posted a link to cartoonist Shoo Raynor's tutorial on the topic. I cautioned the kids going in that this was not going to be the typical Activitytv.tv cartooning lesson. This drawing was a lot more complicated and realistic. That said, the kids were troupers.

They watched and listened carefully and were pretty darn proud of their results. Here's CJ's rendition: 

 

and Annabelle's:

WE SEE THE LIGHT: Thanks to an automated Tweet from Twisst ISS alerts, we learned the International Space Station would be passing overhead at 4:42 p.m., rising from the southwest. We drove to the top of our hill and parked at Ella Bailey Park at 4:40 p.m. and started scanning the skies. It was dusk. We weren't there 30 seconds when a young girl started calling, "Hellooooo! Helloooo!" in our direction.

Turned out it was a friend of the kids'.

CJ called back her direction, "Hi! We'd love to play with you, but we're here to spot the International Space Station!"

Happily, that got their friend's attention. She came running over and together we scanned the skies. Problem was, just to the south of us was Seatac airport, so there were LOTS of points of light rising from our south. It got to be 4:44 and I feared we missed it when Annabelle cried out, "There it is!!!!"

Sure 'nuff, she was right. The ISS was blazing a slow, steady, bright path across the sky from southwest to northeast. It was a gloriously long flyover - several minutes. We watched it head over Magnolia, Interbay, Queen Anne, Fremont, and far, far beyond. It was great to be able to see it for ourselves, but the fact that we were at a park at the time meant everyone there overheard us and spotted it, as well.

It was neat to be able to share that the ISS has been in orbit longer than all the kids there at the park have been alive, and that just this morning, three astronauts lifted off from Russia, headed for the ISS.

How I love spreading the NASA news. :) It's amazing how much excitement a little squiggle of light can generate.

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS:  If you haven't seen the movie mentioned just preceding (a frequent 'star' on the list of worst movies ever made, starring a very young Pia Zadora, might I add), my advice to you would be to keep the course. That said, I couldn't help think of it when we watched a video (featuring real footage from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 100 percent Pia Zadora free) from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Fortunately, JPL's "Sleigh Ride over Mars" is a million light years better!