Pittsburgh Children's Museum

I am a big fan of the 'grand entrance' which is why I always, always love the drive into downtown Pittsburgh.  After you pass through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, but before you get to the Oakland exit on Route 376, you round a corner seemingly still in the middle of nowhere and voila - right there in front of you is the downtown skyline. No matter how many times I have seen it, and it's been quite a few over the last 20 years, I never tire of that view.

Of course, once you get over that moment, the roads become something of a nightmare for the directionally challenged (also known as people like me).

Twenty or so lane changes and bridge crossings later, we arrived at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh... the first official stop in the "Summer of Fun".

Among the highlights, from my adult perspective, was Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. There were replicas of many of the familiar sites from the Neighborhood of Make Believe, including Daniel Striped Tiger's clock and even Daniel himself among a collection of puppets used on the show. 
Daniel was my favorite character as a little girl and seeing him brought back some nice childhood memories.

If you were to ask the kids what their favorite exhibit was, I would guess it to be a toss-up between the Garage and Workshop, Waterplay, and the Attic.

There's a climbing structure inside the Garage and Workshop area that held the kids attention for what seemed like an eternity. This area included a cargo net that was difficult to climb in my flip flops and a slide that had the tightest turns (making for a somewhat uncomfortable ride down for my grown-up body). There were tiny parachutes floating down from the ceiling which Matt had a great time catching and then returning to the top of the structure using a pulley system.  And both he and Cathy enjoyed another pulley for a Rube-Goldberg style roller coaster for balls.

Having no idea what that last sentence really means (I basically stole it off the museum web-site), I went to Wikipedia for something of an explanation - a Rube Goldberg machine is essentially an over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a complex fashion. Regardless, the kids had a blast with it!

Waterplay is just what it sounds like... the kids put on rain coats and Crocs and set about playing in the 'river'. Cathy was somewhat obsessed with the lock that demonstrates how boats are able to navigate rivers as the depth of the water changes.  Interestingly, this reminded me of a trip that Rich and I took to Canada long, long, long before we had kids and a side-trip to the Welland Canal. Rich's inner-geek came shining through when we had the opportunity to actually watch a barge move between locks. While he was thrilled, I was bored to tears.  But judging by Cathy's play in this area, perhaps he'll have a travel companion for a return trip.

The Attic has a Gravity Room (a room sloped at a 25 degree angle) and a Phosphorescent Room (a shadow room) where we also spent lots of time. I am pretty sure the kids went through the Gravity Room at least 20 times - sometimes running, sometimes walking. While I found it made me feel queasy every time I passed through it, they were obviously immune to it all.

We spent not quite five hours here though I think the kids would have stayed longer if it weren't for a 5:00pm closing time. Overall, I'd say it was a nice museum... clean bathrooms, not too crowded, activities that were a hit with the kids. I don't know if I would lay out another $42 for a day at the museum, but since I am now a member, I'd go back again if I were in the area.