Landon turned 7 years old on April 16! He has quite an affinity for numbers and math, so I was excited to point out he’s a prime number this year. (A number that’s divisible by only one and itself.)

April 16 happened to fall over his lengthy spring break so I took the day off for a mother-son adventure in Pittsburgh.

We started out at the very cool Carnegie Science Center. Although it’s designed to engage children, it’s fascinating and fun for adults, too. We learn about weather, space, the body, plants, building design and so much more. A giant train room has intricate displays of historical sites in the greater Pittsburgh area. Nearly everything is hands-on and interactive.

We attended a science show called “Freeze!” where the scientist discussed the three forms of matter–gas, liquid and solid–and how atoms change for each one. She used liquid nitrogen to do several experiments and it was just so cool. Landon was transfixed.

One of my favorites was the shake table test. We built a couple structures with large blocks then turned the shake table on to see how it would fare in a seismic event. I built this one to show Landon how it would fall right over and … it didn’t!

After the science center, we went to the Duquesne Incline. Landon’s wanted to ride the incline for several years and his 7th birthday was the day it happened. We enjoyed the views atop Mt. Washington, had the wind blow our hair everywhere and talked about how the gears work to pull the incline up and down. He enjoyed it, but had hoped it would go faster than it did.

Finally, we visited Elevate Trampoline Park to jump for awhile. It was wonderfully empty in there so we had full run, but tuckered out after about 30 minutes. (Much to my delight; I was ready to crash!)

We enjoyed lamb gyro burgers for dinner before enjoying cookie cake and presents!

As if April 16 wasn’t enough, then Landon had a birthday party at the park the following weekend. It got off to a bumpy start as the gazebo I rented was full of the Easter bunny and kids when I got there, but park staff quickly relocated them so we could set up and party on. Several friends and their families attended for pizza, cupcakes and play time at the park. It was really quite relaxing and a nice opportunity to get to know some of the parents better while our kids played.

A vicious storm blew in so we packed up quickly so we didn’t get blown away and spent the rest of the day playing with new presents and lying low.