by Isabelle The first words out of my four year-old's mouth when he woke up last Saturday were: "I want to go to the train museum today!". Given the rainy weekend forecasted, we packed up a picnic lunch, the baby stroller, and our two kids and headed to the Museum of Science and Technology. We've been there many times before with Jay, but we hadn't yet gone with Rosie, our 10 week-old daughter.

The trains are a huge hit with kids of all ages, of course, as is the museum's well-known crazy kitchen, but other temporary exhibits are also worth seeing for kids and adults alike. We were pleased to see that the exhibit focusing on Canadian space science has been recently expanded, and were impressed with a new exhibit on braille, which included a number of different instruments developed in Canada (including the foldable white cane). Another new exhibit focuses on healthy foods and where they come from, and presents a series of wall-sized photographs of families from different parts of the world, posing with their weekly groceries. Needless to say, there is a remarkable variety when these families are compared. Finally, we ended our visit with our picnic lunch (tables and chairs are available and a small cafeteria offers food and drinks for purchase) and a run through the digital networks exhibit, which includes tunnels lit up in different colours.

We spent about two hours in the museum, and although the parking lot was packed, the museum didn't feel too busy, even with the stroller. I took a number of pictures with my small point-and-shoot and intended to post them, but unfortunately, because of the low light level in the museum, they didn't turn out very well. Next time, I will bring my larger camera, which has a removable flash.

The next morning, my son decided he wanted to visit the Aviation Museum. After a quick look outside our living room window, my husband decided to take him solo. We had last visited the museum on Canada Day, and the museum has changed quite a bit since then. Most striking is the memorial gallery, although my son enjoyed walking through the planes and helicopters and even sitting in one of them! The museum has two buildings, but one is only available as part of a guided tour. Since the tour lasts one hour, my husband decided to skip it and focus on the main building instead. On nice days, the museum has a play structure and picnic tables outdoors for its visitors.

Since his museum weekend, Jay has decided that when he grows up, he wants to be an astronaut, a train conductor, a truck driver and a pilot. He is going to be one busy guy :)

For information on opening hours, admission prices and exhibits, visit www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca and www.aviation.technomuses.ca.

Isabelle is the mom of 3.5 year old Jay and two-month old Rosie. You can also find her at Dr. Peach’s Blog.