Field trip to Oak Ridge

Yesterday was a fun filled day spent with my eldest son and his fellow classmates. We went on a field trip to the Children's Museum and the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. I not only had my son, but a buddy that I was in charge of watching. So, here I am once again (just like always) surrounded by boys! Really, I am so use to this strange phenomenon of being surrounded by boys that it no longer bothers me and I have come to enjoy them all.

Well, we make our way through the different areas of the Children's Museum (ex.: Train room with model trains, a dollhouse room, a rainforest room, local and international history areas, and animal rooms). I think all the kids enjoyed the model trains. The dollhouse room was great! It was a two-story dollhouse proportionate for the 9-11 year old kids. It had four rooms (two up and two down). Also in the room were glass cases with toys from 1900-2000. It was so neat to see these toys. Of course it was funny to see the ones from my childhood and a few were like the ones I still possess. The local history areas were very interesting. There were displays of a cotton plant, quilts, clothing, spinning wheels to show how the early pioneers had to make there own clothing and textiles. Then there was a room that had three partial cabins. One was set up as a living area, one as a bedroom and the other showed off the tools. There was an area set up on the outside of one to show all the things needed for the washday routine. The lady who did our tour explained the process to the children about exactly how they washed and rinsed the clothes.

Next we went to the Science and Energy Museum. The kids got to look around at the different exhibits and also had a class where they put together series circuits and tested different objects to see if they were conductors, insulators or semi-conductors. The boys loved doing that! Later, we were able to hear a man talking about static electricity. Of course all the kids wanted to go to the stage so they could experience this. I have to admit that my son has some of the most obliging hair for this sort of thing as you can see. It was neat to see the different displays on coal, water, and nuclear energy sources. There were also areas that had information on the Oak Ridge "Secret City" times.