An Outing to OMSI

Free passes, a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, and the delight of spending a whole day with cousins lured us out of the house Saturday morning and off to OMSI. The day was full of fun things to do and unique experiences. The five oldest kids toured a submarine with their daddies ("no, thanks" for me and my sister), while the little girls played with hand-puppets for an hour in various parts of the museum (OMSI has some fabulous puppets - I have been looking for some great ones for home - I think I may have hit the jackpot).

We headed over to the "Turbine Hall" after lunch and took in a wide variety of hands-on science experiments. My favorite was watching the kids "catch" smoke. They shot water bottle rockets, climbed into a space shuttle, explored aviation design, computer fundamentals, and manipulated giant robot arms.

The most incredible part of the day, for me, was the da Vinci exhibit. I do not have any pictures as photography was forbidden in the hall. They had many models of machines that da Vinci designed and almost an entire floor devoted to the Mona Lisa. It is probably as close as I will ever get to the real thing, and it was awesome. I don't mean that in the slang, "cool" sense of the word, I mean that in the true "awe inspiring" sense of the word. It was incredible to stand in front of that work of art, with true colors restored after two years (or was it four?) of study and labor, and see the Mona Lisa as Leonardo da Vinci painted it 500 years ago. There is something about that mouth, although I have no idea what it is. I was also impressed by the beauty of her hands. I could not help but stand and stare. It was utterly peaceful and beautiful, and absolutely amazing. Now I want to go back and see it without kids pulling me through as fast as they can walk. Oh, and I think I'll fork over the four bucks for the self-guided tour phone. Maybe I'll even stop and read the explanation cards this time.