Oh, the Places You'll Go!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The kids had an extra spring in their step this morning. They both woke up knowing that it was Dr. Seuss' birthday.

We started the day with a reading - "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" CJ recited it with great gusto.

Before too terribly long, it was time for us to head out toward Seattle Center, where we'd be seeing "The Lorax" in IMAX 3D at noon.

Because I am super cheap (or should that be extra thrifty?), we parked about seven or so blocks away, in a rare swath of spots where there was not only no meter, but also no 2 hour time limit. We wanted to be able to take our time today, because I wanted to do a recon mission on the Polar Science Weekend event at PSC.

The science center was TEEMING with people today. Mostly middle to high school aged kids on field trips. We popped in the Polar event, and stuck mostly to the perimeter. The smidgen we did experience was absolutely fascinating. I mean, how often can a kid get a chance to actually TOUCH a 5,000 year old ice core from an Antarctica glacier? Well, CJ and Annabelle did that today. So cool (in more ways than one!).

The scientist manning (er, 'womaning' the booth) began asking a series of questions about the ice core - things like, "See these bubbles in the ice? What are they?"

Annabelle was quick to answer, "AIR!"

And then the scientist asked what gasses might be in that air. At that, Annabelle rattled off, "Oxygen, nitrogen, helium and carbon dioxide." 

The scientist asked what greenhouse gasses were. After Annabelle rattled off a definition, the scientist made it a point to try to call on other kids around the table. :)

We'll be heading back to the Polar Science event tomorrow. Today, Seuss was our #1 to do list.

THE LORAX: We made our way to the PACCAR Theater for the big show at noon. When we arrived, I was surprised by the number of people in the place. We're used to going to matinees with a handful, at most, of others. Today, there were several dozen people on hand. There were LOTS of toddlers and I wondered how vociferous they might be during the movie, but the movie kept their attention and, certainly, ours.

Was it the Best Movie Ever? No. But it was absolutely entertaining from start to finish. Visually engaging, with good dialogue and a compelling storyline. Seeing "The Lorax" was a great way to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, and my red and white striped hat is off to Theodore Geisel for being so progressive regarding the importance of protecting the environment.

GIRLS ON FILM: We'd had longstanding plans to meet CJ's BFF from kindergarten at Full Tilt in Ballard this afternoon, after school hours. As always, it was great to see his friend and her mother. We spent 90 minutes or so visiting and watching the kids feed the machines. As we were readying to leave, we saw a group of women loading in equipment. We figured they were a band setting up to play, but before we left a woman approached our table. She said she and her friends were filmmakers making a movie about girls who play pinball for the Toronto International Film Festival and they were hoping to film our daughters playing the machines and could we stick around. We consented, and I happily signed a model release and they plied Annabelle and friend with quarters for a half hour or so. :)

Bee was rather appropriately dressed for today, in a gamer geek sort of way, wearing her Kennedy Space Center sweatshirt and her 8-bit bow.  Hopefully, Bee didn't drop too many *&%^@ words while she was being filmed while playing. ;) The woman who asked me to sign the release said her group has "done well" at the TIFF in years past. The movie they were making today is apparently part of some contest where filmmakers have 5 days to complete a movie from start to finish. She said they've spent a couple of days filming and will spend the next couple of days editing, animating and narrating. We'll see if anything comes of it all.

WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO: A couple of days ago, NASA uploaded a new promotional video called "We Are the Explorers." I screened it for the kids today. It's an important message, powerfully delivered.