We did not attempt to create the perfect woman, because as long as I let my kids get pasta with butter in the museum cafeteria, I am she, at least in their minds. We did go to the Museum of Science, once again with our family faves, the two Maries.

We checked out the Spiders Alive exhibit, at which I tried my best to hide my abject terror of spiders; played Lilliputians on a giant chair; kicked randos off of the space shuttle for our photo shoot purposes (sorry, randos); laid on a bed of nails; conducted speed trials; ran up and down the stairs version of that giant piano in “Big”; nailed (Hazy) and failed (George) at photo acting; learned about taste buds (“Do you know what you call the little bumps on your tongue?” “Bumpy things!”); watched baby chicks hatch; watched a drunk baby chick who needed Life Alert™; and discovered the world’s only cute spider.

(You can click on any photo to see it bigger.)

On the way home, the kids decided to use their umbrellas as parasols, much to my delight.

On the ride home, George, as always, sat on the side of the train where he can watch the other trains coming and going, and made new friends.

All in all, it was a great day.