went to the boston science museum yesterday

it was fantastic! we saw so much, i can't even begin to recount it all. the highlights for maggie were the 2 triceratops skeletons at triceratops cliff--one made almost entirely of real dinosaur bones (only a very few small bones were casts, like the toes and some small part of the skull. it was one of the most complete triceratops skeletons ever found), and the skeleton that was made as a cast of real bones. they also had a model tyrannosaurus rex, with skin and all, that was very cool. her other favorite was the donation thing they have where you spin the coins down, and the more precise model they had with steel balls in the math area. plus the demonstration of how items fall at the same speed regardless of weight, and the demonstration of how nanomaterials try to mimic properties of real materials (in this case, cabbage leaves). oh yes, and the balls rolling down the ramp, to see which shape ramp is the fastest.

nina was going to tell me her favorites, but she's having too much fun reading to chester. well, her favorites definitely included riding the escalator, the entire light exhibit, and the physics in the park exhibit, which had lots of playground toys. fun fun fun!!

there was in area in the human body exhibit with actual psychologists (from boston college!) doing research about children and the way they recognize emotions in faces. maggie and nina both participated. the women started by asking the girls a few questions about feelings, and with maggie's interview, it went something like this:

researcher: we're going to talk about feelings, like happy, sad, and pax (pax was part of the study, explaining would take too long). have you ever felt happy?
maggie: no.
researcher: have you ever felt sad?
maggie: yes. i'm sad right now. i want to naney.
the researcher continued without missing a beat, but i was kind of embarrassed. not much, because i'm used to maggie, but a bit. she has felt happy before!