GameOn 2.0

Kickin' it Ol' School here in Portland. It rained (on and off) today which made Romney cheer and run out to the front yard to swing in the drizzle. Two reasons this made my sunshine smile. First, Quinn had told him that when it rains it is awesome here because it is warm. Two, I had told him that the first rainy day we would spend indoors at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). I wasn't wasting a sunny, warm day inside looking at museum exhibits, no matter how cool. And these were cool.

Right from the entrance, I knew we would have the entire morning/early afternoon covered before Bill was freed from being handcuffed to the desk, and I would no longer have to entertain the munchkins by myself. How I knew this so instinctually was the 20 feet x 40 foot wall wrap with a picture of Sonic the Hedgehog announcing their current exhibit: GameOn 2.0. An entire exhibit dedicated to video gaming. Puhleeze, my boys could stay for weeks. The exhibit featured every conceivable game ever created between 1959-2011, all free to play until your heart's content (or until another kid wanted a turn.) Pinball games, StarWars, MonkeyBall, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Streetfighter, Pong, Centipede, Space Invaders, Mario Brothers. Plus the entire history of the evolution of these contraptions. I learned a lot. I did not know that Nolan Bushnell (founder of ATARI) was a U of U grad. Ok, that is all I learned, but it was fun to see a lot of the games of my youth up and working and being mocked by teenagers who thought they were positively archaic.

I could stand the Game exhibit for only so long, before needing a break, and had the boys look at the rest of the museum. Wonderful brain teaser puzzles lined the hallway of the entire first and second floors. The second floor was a health, nutrition, nanotechnology exhibit. It was incredibly well done and informative. All the information was presented in an exciting, entertaining kid friendly way. We are talking about cutting edge cancer treatment techniques (still awaiting FDA approval) made into a children's exhibit that was interesting and fun (I know because I stood by Romney for 30 minutes while he played with it). Oh Utah, land of the many children, why, oh why, I ask can you not put together a decent museum for those under 15?


In another section lived creatures like snakes, and frogs, and rats and this little guy who Romney was not going to let anywhere near him, until I showed him I could hold him and it was no big deal. Once he saw his mama could do it, he figured he could too.


Our last stop in the museum, before heading back to the gaming room was the watershed area. Romney enjoyed making dams and reservoirs that would fill with water, overflow and then flood the towns at the end of the river. I am not sure the kids building the towns at the end thought it was as entertaining as Romney did, but one could say, he learned what those OMSI planners wanted him to learn about water patterns and man's influence thereon.


After the museum, a quick stop to pick up library books and summer reading prizes, we picked up Bill and headed to Grant's Park in NE Portland. Home to the Ramona, Henry Huggins and Ribsy statues, next door to Beverly Cleary Elementary. Ramona is the girl equivalent to Romney, and this photo of him climbing up on her statue to make it look like he is pulling her hair is proof.

And here is Ramona, uh, I mean Romney riding Henry Huggins dog, Ribsy. I have a feeling he was not the only child ever to do this, since Ribsy was polished to a shiny brass right in the arch of his back and almost black everywhere else.

Embarrassing your children is a right of parenthood, right? So when I make them pose in ridiculous ways in public, I am only exercising that privilege. Maybe not, but still, it entertains me for a moment when the entire day was centered around them. In fact this evening to get the boys to be quiet, not fight (as they are prone to do on these late nights, once tucked in and alone), I told them if I had to referee this evening, I would get to choose what to do tomorrow. I reminded them that I like Raw food and Art Museums. I think it will work because as I closed their door behind me, I heard Romney say "NOT ONE WORD, WILLIAM."

Our last stop before dinner, grocery store run, hot tub and bed was the playground. A tire swing, a strong daddy willing to spin them until they want to throw-up and a mom with a phone camera to document it all made for a great ending to our outing. Side note to all you crazy Oregonians who were at the very packed pool in Grant Park and thought it was a great idea to go swimming outdoors today -- Put some clothes on. Raining and 60 degrees, not exactly swimming weather. (Weirdos!)