This is purely coincidental, but look how nice! Another glass-themed post!

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

On our way up to Rochester for our weather-weary trip to see the Lilac Festival last month, we stopped in the adorable town of Corning, home to the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG), and the world’s largest collection of glass.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

This pick was all mine…made with little consideration for the kids!  I’ve wanted to go there since first learning about it at a travel show over 10 years ago.

Luckily, it was still a surprisingly kid-friendly choice. First and foremost, admission is free for all kids under 19!  The gallery pieces were behind glass, and many of the exhibits, particularly in the Innovations center, were hands-on. The only exception was the gift shop. There were some very exposed tables of beautiful and breakable vases, so we clutched The Girl’s hand and began our rhythmic chant, “Don’t touch anythiiiiiing…don’t touch anythiiiiiiing….”

Okay, what was so cool about it?

When you go, you should first check the show schedule on your map. There are live, narrated glassblowing demonstrations at the hot glass show all day, as well as flameworking, glassbreaking and optical fiber demonstrations. The popular hot glass show is offered most frequently. We missed the glassbreaking show, but the fiber optic show intrigued The Boy, who has an interest in science. Not so much The Girl. Luckily, the theater was in the middle of the Glass Innovation Center, so Matt was able to take her around to some exhibits while we watched.

"I can see my house from here!"

The Innovation Center was our favorite section of the museum, and the most hands-on. The science and technology exhibits are located in three “floating” pavilions connected by a 300-ft bridge. The kids looked at their reflections in a flight simulator mirror, then looked at a view of downtown Corning through a periscope reaching up through the ceiling. They both tried their hand at bending glass, peered through magnifying glasses, and steered clear of the glass floor which gave a view of two stories below.

"Does this glass make my nose look big?"

Make a point to participate in a “Make your own Glass” workshop (for an additional fee). Both kids and I got a chance to work with glass, and this was by far the highlight of our visit. Kids as young as four can make a small fused glass project, like a sun catcher or nightlight, by assembling colorful glass scraps in patterns.

The Boy got to blow a glass sculpture which was turned by an experienced glassworker. He also picked the colors for his creation. These glass specks were melted into the molten glass, and turned to become bright swirls.

I decided to make a flower, not realizing how involved the experience would be. I was outfitted from head to toe in protective heat-resistant gear, from goggles to foot coverings (I had sandals on). While the glassworker does get the glass out of the furnace and brings it over, I was turning it and pulling at it with the tweezer-like tool to make the petals.

The glass comes out of the 2100-degree furnace glowing red, and the consistency of honey, so you have to keep rolling so it doesn’t droop. It becomes clear as it cools, but loses its malleability quickly, so you have to work fast.

I pinched and pulled at half-inch intervals around the mouth of the flower, which was then re-heated. The next step was to pull harder and extend it to make the stem. It was thrilling to see the final shape, even though the pink and lime colors I had chosen didn’t show true until it cooled.

Regardless of the project you choose, the pieces are fired and cooled overnight, so you either have to return to pick them up, or pay to have them shipped home.

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Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

We were invited to attend a bloggers’ “social” last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Specifically, to visit the new exhibit, The World’s Largest Dinosaurs. Because we love all “world’s largest” things, even extinct ones!

WHY did you go there, exactly?

The exhibit is only open through January 2012. We wanted to get there as soon as possible, share it with you, and convince you to visit! And because The Girl is going through a dinosaur phase. She’s been playing with The Boy’s old plastic dinos, setting up social “meet and greets” with her Strawberry Shortcakes figurines.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

We found this to be one of the most hands-on of all exhibits at the AMNH. The lesson here is how dinosaurs actually lived, by revealing their biology. This exhibit focuses on the largest group of dinosaurs which ever lived, the long-necked and long-tailed sauropods, which ranged in length from 15 to 150 feet.

In the middle of the exhibit space is one type of sauropod, the Mamenchisaurus, which was 13 tons and 60 feet long. Thirty of those feet made up the length of her neck. Nearly life-size, this creature doubles as a projection screen. When you sit on the semi-circular bleachers facing her side, you can watch the video presentation displayed on her body, which describes how their bones, muscles, and internal organs worked. You can feel the vibrations of the show through the seats, which added a fun, dimensional experience.

One of the topics covered is their digestive system. You’ll see her neck light up as you follow the trail of the plant life she would eat. Sauropods would have to eat 10,000 calories a day. We learned that, despite their long necks, they would prefer to eat low-lying foliage, because raising their long necks would put a strain on their hearts and make it hard work to reach for higher branches.

In fact, one exhibit involved pumping levers simulating the heartbeats of different sized animals to compare the strain.

But The Girl’s favorite was the fossil dig in a giant sand box. Mainly because she got to wear the pink goggles.

This exhibit leads into the Museum’s series of fossil halls. The Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of vertebrate fossils, totaling nearly one million specimens. More than 600 are on view, and most of them are real specimens, not casts.

The fossils are displayed according to evolutionary relationships rather than chronology. You’ll see a giant, illustrated tree of life, where animals are grouped on branches according to their shared physical characteristics. This is where we learned that humans fall in the category “placentals.” Of course, Matt and I were then compelled to inject the phrase into the conversation as much as possible. “Where are our placentals?” “They’re over there by the stegasouraus.”

I’m not always diligent in reading the exhibit signage, but on this visit, I paid attention. Lo and behold, I learned a few new things about dinosaurs:

• Dinosaurs’ life spans increased with size. Sauropods would live to about 60, while in comparison, a tiny shrew lives only one to three years. While most creatures have roughly the same number of heartbeats over the course of their life – 1.5 billion – small creatures have faster heartbeats, and they use them up faster!

• We don’t really know what color the sauropods actually were. They’re depicted as green and brown, but all we know for sure is that they had scales. A fun view-finder exhibit showed them with different colors and patterns.

• The largest sauropod, the Argentinosaurus, weighed nine tons — ten times more than any known land mammal. These giants rank among Earth’s great success stories, roaming the planet for 140 million years.

A little background info about the place:

This video on the AMNH site goes behind the scenes with The World’s Largest Dinosaurs curators, as they explain the science behind the exhibition.

On the other end of the intelligence spectrum, we made this video of the kids — outrunning a dinosaur in a taxi — at a kiosk in the Fossil Hall. Hams, my family is full of hams.

[flv:http://gobigorgohomeblog.com/content/AMNH-TaxiCab.flv 375 300]

How it rated on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = snoozefest, 10 = add to your bucket list): [rating=9]

9. Such a great exhibit…such a fantastic museum!

Hey you! Go BIG!:

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192

On our way up to Rochester last weekend, we stopped to see the World’s Largest Pancake Griddle in Penn Yan, NY!  Don’t we look tiny in front of this thing? It measures 27 feet across.

Pass the syrup!

It is not lost on me that The Boy has grown nearly as tall as me…sigh…he needs to stop doing that.

So, the story is that on September 27th, 1987, the Birkett Mills company cooked the world’s largest (buckwheat) pancake in this huge griddle, which was placed over hot stones. They mixed the batter in a cement mixer, and flipped it with a crane.

After we left, I tweeted that I think Penn Yan is Dutch for “middle of nowhere.” The very nice staff at the Penn Yan Public Library responded, graciously setting me straight as to the true origins of the name.

In its early days of settlement, the town welcomed emigrants from Pennsylvania as well as from the New England states. “Penn Yan” credits both parties – “Penn” in honor of Pennsylvania, and “Yan” in honor of the Yankees, as all people from the New England states were called.

I’m sharing this on Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

Turns out, we didn’t need that $10 box of Claritin after all. Unfortunately, the Lilac Festival in Rochester was rained out yesterday, which was the only day we had to visit. But since it was one of the reasons we drove up to Rochester, I still wanted to drive over to Highland Park to see what we could.

We drove around the perimeter of the park, and saw several rows of tall lilac bushes in various shades of lavender and purple. We stopped the car in front of this lovely bed of pansies, and the girls were brave enough to jump out for a quick photo in the driving rain and gusty wind. Oh, and Matt was gracious enough to get out to snap the shot!

Hurry up, we're getting soaked!

The ten-day festival isn’t over until May 22^nd, so if you’re near Rochester, try to get there! The park is home to the world’s largest collection of lilacs — over 500 varieties and more than 1,200 bushes. Plus, there’s free entertainment, including children’s shows, arts & craft vendors, food, and other activities.

After we left, we still enjoyed our day in Rochester. We had lunch at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, spent a few hours at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and enjoyed a local delicacy, Abbott’s Frozen Custard. It was hardly 50 degrees out, but that’s never stopped us before!

Pollen? Bring it.

We’re headed upstate this weekend to see some BIG things, including the world’s largest lilac festival in Rochester. As you can see, we’re PREPARED. Give me a badge and call me “scout!”

Matt is in charge of all the electronics to keep us at the level of connectivity to which he’s become accustomed. In other words, we could launch a space shuttle with all the technology we’re bringing.  This post, the only one he has written so far, describes our travel “geek gear.” You’ll get an idea why our local Best Buy has put a restraining order on him.

On the way up, we’re excited to be stopping at the Corning Museum of Glass, the world’s largest glass museum. I know what you’re thinking, but they tell me it’s a kid-friendly place. Having no leash for The Girl, I will trust they know what they’re talking about. I did try one of those harnesses once at Disneyland, when she was a crazy toddler. She was way too smart for that. She walked around me in a circle until I tripped over it.

The kids will be participating in glass-making workshops, and we’ll get to see live glassblowing demonstrations. We’ve been prepping The Girl by reading simple books explaining how glass is made from sand.

Then we’re making a time-sucking detour to see the world’s largest pancake griddle in Penn Yan.

Finally, on to Rochester to see the world’s largest collection of lilacs at the Lilac Festival. There’s over 500 varieties of lilacs on more than 1,200 bushes. Weather forecast: rainy with a high of 55 degrees. I anticipate a lot of bribery in exchange for enthusiasm.

We’re also spending time at the National Museum of Play, part of The Strong complex, where they have the world’s largest collection of electronic games. This is pretty much the only reason The Boy is putting up with the lilacs.

I made the mistake – once – of hosting a 4th birthday at home for one of my progeny. The Boy’s birthday is in May, and I was overly confident that it would be a nice day for lots of outdoor games and activities. Then it rained. We ended up playing animal charades 587+ times, until I (gasp) put on a DVD.

So on the occasion of The Girl’s 4th, the possibility of a birthday party wasn’t even presented to her. Instead, we hyped up a trip into NYC to see the Madagascar Live! show at Radio City Music Hall, followed by lunch and shopping at Dylan’s Candy Bar. Funny thing…they both fit the “Go BIG” profile as world’s largest…interesting…

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

The four of us drove into New York City (a 90-minute trip) for the day. We had tickets to see Madagascar Live! at Radio City Music Hall. The kids love a trip into “The City,” and as long as Matt does the driving, everyone is happy.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Radio City Music Hall is the world’s largest indoor theater, but it’s also one of the loveliest. And it’s a quintessential New York landmark which I wanted the kids to experience. It was serendipitous that a kid’s show was scheduled for The Girl’s birthday weekend, providing the perfect opportunity for all of us to see it together. The last time I was there was over 15 years ago for a Barry Manilow concert.

Go ahead and snicker…I’ll wait…

The size of the Music Hall is deceiving from the outside. Its marquee is a full city-block long. Its auditorium measures 160 feet from the back to the stage, and the ceiling is 84 feet high! The stage is framed by a huge proscenium arch that measures 60 feet high and 100 feet wide. The shimmering gold stage curtain is the largest in the world.

For most events, the seating capacity is approximately 6,000, with seats on the orchestra level and three mezzanines. They’re shallow, so the view is good even in the nosebleed seats.

Wearing our lemur glasses...some more willing than others

Okay, what was so cool about it?

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Sometimes I enjoy planning our travel more than actually traveling. Mainly, because I’m usually alone, in a quiet place, reading and putting together our itinerary. I get my (temporary) fill of omnipotence without any complaints from the smaller people in our household about 1) being shortchanged of pool time, or 2) the unavailability of rectangular chicken nuggets.

Credit: Rochester Lilac Festival

And, by the way, I prefer the old school method of looking through glossy travel guides, as opposed to navigating through flash-ridden websites. Don’t look for my picture next to the definition of “early adopter.”

Our Go BIG plans for this spring and summer are coming together nicely! Now if only the price of gas would stop its precipitous climb.

These are the adventures we’ve planned so far:

APRIL:

World’s largest indoor theater – Radio City Music Hall, NYC

World’s largest hot dog stand – Nathan’s Famous, Brooklyn

MAY:

World’s largest collection of lilacs – Rochester, NY

World’s largest collection of electronic games – Rochester, NY

Frying pan used to make world’s largest pancake– Penn Yan, NY

World’s longest pleasure beach – Virginia Beach, VA

World’s largest gorilla – Virginia Beach, VA

World’s largest living history museum – Colonial Williamsburg, VA

Virginia Beach. Credit: CameronDavidson@CameronDavidson.com

JUNE:

World’s largest regional theme park company – Six Flags (Queensbury, NY location)

World’s largest Uncle Sam – Lake George, NY

AUGUST:

World’s largest cowboy boots – San Antonio, TX

We need something for July! Suggestions?

What do you think? If you know of any other BIG things in these areas, please comment and give us the scoop!

Shopping is one of those beloved hobbies of my past, b.k. And by shopping, I mean thrilling, all-day adventures in search of bargains and perfectly-fitting jeans for ME. Not quick Target run-throughs, throwing any shoes in the cart which may fit the kids’ feet, only to be tried on at home and inevitably returned.

Matt and I do sometimes get out to do grown-up stuff, like when we had a date night at the world’s largest Spanish restaurant, The Columbia, in Tampa. And occasionally, I still get to shop without the kids!

Woodbury Common

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

Luckily, it takes little to convince my cousin-in-law Stephanie to join me at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, NY.  She was our intrepid travel companion to Montréal, and is not intimidated in the least by the crowds and lines at this shopper’s paradise.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Woodbury Common is the world’s largest premium outlet shopping center, which means two things in my favor. The first: there are 220 stores. The second: there are 220 stores all in one place. Which means a lot of walking is involved, but also – literally — one-stop-shopping! A much more efficient way to dispose of my money!

Plus, I needed new shoes.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Yes, there are some fantastic brands at Woodbury Common, offering discounts so good the result is usually lines and controlled entrance times:

Is this the line for the Toy Story Mania ride?

But even at “discount” prices, I’m still not in the market for Jimmy Choos (although they do have a store here). My eyes were on a different prize: Crocs. Go ahead, apply the suburban hausfrau labels to me. I can stand up to any insult…as long as I’m wearing my comfy shoes.

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You are now entering...the Princess Zone!

IT’S DISNEY GIVEAWAY DAY! But first, the post…

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

There’s a reason the sale of psuedoephedrine-laced cough medication is regulated. It can make you do crazy things. Case in point: suffering from a sinus infection, and self-medicating with Advil Cold & Sinus, I made the decision to drag everyone into NYC recently to check out the brand new Disney store…in Times Square…one week after it opened. I took leave of my senses, and I’m blaming it on pharmacology.

It’s the world’s largest Disney store, but as I found out from a “Cast Member,” it’s not as big as the “World of Disney” store in Orlando. They are different companies, so the distinction is made.

Bonus: After our expedition, nourishment was in order, so we ended up at Applebee’s. Turns out, the Times Square location is the world’s largest Applebee’s!

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Actually, we were going to the upper west side anyway, because The Girl and I had tickets for Angelina Ballerina, the Musical. The Girl imagines herself to be a dainty ballerina type. Taller, louder, and more in-your-face than all the other three-year olds in Miss Tanya’s “Combo” dance class, she obviously has an active imagination.

The boys went to check out the Quidditch World Cup, then came to pick us up after the show. When I said to Matt, “let’s go down to Times Square,” he acquiesced, knowing I was on medication and fearing the unknown.

We found free, on-street parking on 45^th street–a sign that it was meant to be. We entered, squeezed our way through throngs of people, and applied the Death Grip to The Girl’s hand so she wouldn’t get lost.

A Jessie doll? Why yes, I would be interested in purchasing that. How did you know?

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Any Disney fan will lose their mind in this place. There are two floors with floor-to-ceiling merchandise; everything from toys to apparel. The displays are so endearing, the décor so magical, the staff so friendly…all the necessary elements to separate you from your money.

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Who else is suffering from the world’s largest food hangover? Show of hands…

A few fun items to report today…

Be on the lookout for another contest & giveaway this week! Can’t tell you what the prize is yet, but here’s a clue: rhymes with “bisney.”

We’re SO delighted to be the focus of an article in Perceptive Travel, an award-winning webzine! The site includes a “biggest highest longest category” where they highlight unique, bizarre, and eccentric sights…can you dig it?!? We can!

Also, please check out our recent guest post for Travel Mamas, a fun family travel website. We shared five of our favorite “Go BIG” kid-friendly attractions!

Hey, did you know that the world’s largest disco happened this Saturday night in Buffalo, NY?  The event sold out — and 7,000 people got their boogie on! It’s an annual fundraiser, and has raised over $1,800,000 for Camp Good Days and Special Times, a camp for children with cancer and several other children’s charities. Henry Winkler (aka “Fonzie”) was there! Did anyone else have a little bit of a crush on him growing up? Yes, we’ve already established that I’m OLD. No need to remind me.

World’s Largest Disco! Photo by Joe Cascio. www.JCascioPhoto.com