As a side note, this was the first time I really encountered the attendance policy here in PA. I will say I'm less than impressed. In Virginia, I kept Will out of school when I wanted to and it wasn't an issue until the number of days became excessive. I'm not sure what constitutes "excessive," but we never reached that point even after two or three whole days, a late arrival, and several early releases. Here in PA however, we have to write a detailed letter requesting an excused absence at least 5 days in advance detailing the educational value the vacation day will provide. Then, if the day is excused, the student is responsible to make up any missed work and also write about their experience. Only 5 of these "excused absences" are allowed per year. Any other absences require a signed doctor's note. Any unexcused absences beyond I think 3 or 5 result in nasty letters home followed by fines and referrals to child welfare! If you know me, you know this whole policy makes me furious because I firmly believe it should be my responsibility to decide whether my child is best served by being in school for the day or participating in another activity of my choosing!!! I don't know how anyone ever voted for such an invasive policy but I cringe every time it infringes on my rights as a parent! But enough of my ranting since this post is about Pittsburgh, not the school system. : )
Anyway, since we were granted an excused absence, we had a great time visiting the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Science Center, and the National Aviary. The aviary was mostly for me since Jerry planned a special penguin encounter for us!!
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| A local ski resort set up a snowboarding demonstration in front of the Children's Museum. |
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| This was the water play area complete with a snow table. |
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| Will could have played with the snow and built dams all day! |
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| He also enjoyed trying out the electrical circuit display. |
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| We rode the Duquesne Incline. Will loved it but wouldn't smile for a picture, as usual. I got the last laugh here though because after I cropped out half of his face it looks like a grin rather than a grimace! |
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| The view of Pittsburgh from the top of the incline. |
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| We took a self guided tour of the machine room for the incline. Very impressive!! |
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| Penguins at the aviary!! |
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| Will recognized the burrowing owl thanks to the Wild Kratts show on PBS. |
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| The tub of white rats in the food prep area is evidence of the birds of prey they kept. My stomach got a little weak after we spotted this right around the corner from the cafeteria where we had just eaten lunch! I hoped that wasn't a shared kitchen! |
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| This is Disco, the penguin we got to pet! : ) |
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| Will isn't quite as enthusiastic about penguins as I am. |
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| Jerry also bought us a penguin painting. You choose your colors of tempera paint and end up with some cute penguin tracks after he waddles through the paint and across the canvas. : ) |
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| Evidently Disco was not interested in painting with gold that day. : ) |
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| Isn't he CUTE!!!!! |
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| Here was my son's favorite part of the penguins - their poo!!! He even took this picture of it. He thought it was hilarious. And they did it every 10 to 15 minutes so he got a few good laughs. |
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| Jerry found a really cool carpet skating facility. Will strapped on a helmet and some plastic sliders over his shoes and was ready to go. After wiping out a few times he got the hang of it and had a blast trying to imitate the older kids in there. |
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| One of the exhibits at the Science Center was the USS Requin, a submarine used during World War II. It was renovated and open for display. |
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| It was really amazing to crawl through the hatches and see the spaces where the crew lived and worked. |
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| I thought of my dad the whole time. He served on a submarine as a navigator during his time in the service. I wish he was here to tell Will all about it. |
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| It was almost impossible to imagine men sleeping in these tiny bunks! |
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| Will enjoyed the earthquake simulator at the Science Center. What's not to love about knocking stuff over! |
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| Most of all though he enjoyed the sports center there. They had exhibits that timed you in a race, measured your jumping, taught you about hockey, baseball, basketball, and even turned you into a human yo-yo. Here Will tried out flips on the trampoline. : ) |
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| I loved these life-size building blocks made out of some type of dense foam. I could have played with them all day! Will built this tower then had me seal him up inside. |
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