California Science Academy

So on Monday my mom and us went to the new Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. It was so great! We got there at 9:30 when it opened, so there was still parking in the garage. Otherwise you have to find parking on the surface streets of Golden Gate Park - and that can be hazardous. We got in line for our tickets and went in.

The first thing we did was to get Planetarium tickets for me and Jon. They give them out on a first-come first-served basis. The shows are every hour. So we got tickets at 9:50 for the 11:30 showing. We got the last tickets to the 11:30 showing. I guess that means people like going to the Planetarium. It isn't suggested for kids under 6 - too much lights, movement and sounds. So my mom stayed with Nicholas.

Then we wandered around and saw some of the eveolution exhibits. We went into the kids play area, but it was for kids who were older than Nicholas, so we didn't stay. Then we went to the rainforest exhibit.

It was so cool. All these animals, trees, plants and cool looking birds and butterflys. Nicholas would talk to the butterflys. He got excited when he saw all the fish in the bottom. It was pretty neat. At the top of the exhibit you take an elevator down to the bottom floor (the Aquarium area) and you walk through this tunnel that goes under the pool at the bottom of the rain forest. There are benches you can sit on in the tunnel. It was pretty neat.

You have to stand in line to go into the rainforest because they only let a certain number of people go in at a time. The line goes fast. we put our time in the line to good use and fed Nicholas solids in his stroller.

By this time Nicholas was hungry again, so Jon found a place to sit and feed him and my mom and I went through all the fish exhibits. They were neat. There was a touch and feel tidepool area that would be great for older kids. But some areas are pretty closed in, so it can get VERY loud. I am glad we didn't take Nicholas into those parts, he doesn't like loud noises.

We saw the albino alligator and all the fun exhibits on the first floor. They have all kinds of Aquarium exhibits on the first floor that they have paths through and over. There is a shallow seas exhibit that you walk over and can see fish and sting rays from the shallow seas. It is neat.

Then we went to the Planetarium and left. We did it all in about 3 hours. If you have older kids, it will take longer because there is more stuff for them to do. Younger kids it takes less time. And if you are just adults, plan on having something else to do for the rest of the day.

It was a lot of fun, and I would recommend it to anyone.

What we didn't do: The 3D movie theater. The current showing was on bugs, and I had no desire to see it.