Pittsburgh is great for the kids. They had yet another museum for the children to play at. This one is the Carnegie Science Center (Think McWane times 3). On this day Magan took the kids on a walk to the science center from our hotel (about 1 mile)...over the Clemente bridge and along the river. Our plan was that I would pick them up at the Science Center after I got out of my conference.
I wish I could have been with them on this walk. It looks like they had lots of fun. That baseball statue is at the entrance of PNC Park, and is HUGE. 
Magan said that it was very windy that day, and Sam thought is was sooo cool that he could run as fast as he could and his pennant would stay on his chest. And something about being a kid, means you have to touch every place there is water. 
Sam and Davis know these ducks as the ones that are in the lake behind my work. They like to fly to Pittsburgh for vacation as well. I am sure there is a story with the picture below, but I don't know if I want to know it.
Inside the Science Center, there are 5 levels of fun. Each level has it's own unique theme, and the kids visited them all. There was a place to shoot rockets up into the air, an aquarium, a floor with all sorts of robots (including R2D2 and C3PO), a model train set larger than any I've ever seen, a large water play area surrounded by a playground on the top floor, and a large science lab area where Davis and I got to see some experiments from outer space.
Everything in the model train set was also moving. It was set up for a daytime and nighttime mode. Even the little swings on the playground were really swinging. Pretty neat display. Needless to say, Magan said she had to drag Sam and Davis out of this room.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, I was enjoying a lunchbreak, when we noticed that the room next to our meeting had guards all around it and they would not allow anyone to pass down the aisle near these rooms. Of course we started asking around about who was here, and then found out that the Governer of Pennsylvania, and the Mayor of Pittsburgh were having a press conference to discuss the new Batman movie filming some scenes in the city. This was pretty neat, but no one really thought much about it, then the rumor was that Batman was in the press conference as well. Well, I went out next to the room when they let out and watched the press come out and hold their cameras ready. Still thinking that it was just a mayor or governor, I was surprised to see Christian Bale (Batman) walk out. I did not recognize him at first, just expecting that he would be in the fully shaved Bruce Wayne gear. I am sure he was just as excited to see me. No picture, but I did find the press conference pic. Christopher Nolan (Inception) was also there, but I did not see him come out. 
Back at the science center, Sam loved these electronic circuits he could build.
Yep, Sam is still at this table. He just wouldn' t leave. Davis and Belle got to play in the water and got to touch the turtle.
Did I mention they also have a submarine at this museum. YES! I took the boys while Mom and Belle rested on the porch area. You can see the boys out on the USS Requiem. They thought it was cool to be ON the submarine.
As we went under on the sub, they had someone from the museum that instructed us to enjoy the ship and walk through, and to NOT touch any of the switches. Sam and Davis listened very carefully, and when I told them to watch this, then flipped an old switch on the ship....You should have seen their eyes, and both of them said NO. They kept looking around thinking the ship was about to go out into the river. Not a good example of obedience for them, but man, if you could have seen their faces, it was hilarious. I only did that three more times. There is a line between kid and adult...and sometimes it looks blurred to me. :)
After the submarine, we went to the next building of the science center. Yes, a whole new building...it has some sports training themes and had some cool things you could do. The first thing we did was ride one of the simulators that showed you going through the human body (Think Body Wars at EPCOT, then strip out any Disney magic...ok this was a very basic simulator). Just about the time we entered the kidneys, Davis starting crying. It was making him sick. Luckily we were probably about one more major organ away from some puking when the ride was over. 
I guess every Dad has to race his boys sometime. This just reminded me of what my Dad would do with me. It was always so great to beat your dad in a race (even when you knew he was letting you win)...On your mark, Get Set, Go!
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