The Cube Beats Summer Brain Drain {#newatthecube}

Has your summer started yet?
Ours has, and we are already clicking through our Summer Bucket List!
{Some of the new things we added this year: eat at every restaurant in our small city and build a backyard fire pit!}
One of the biggies every year is a visit to The Discovery Cube.
This year’s visit was full of surprises… like The Cube has 7 new exhibits AND has doubled in size.
I’ve kinda taken The Cube for granted in the past. It’s been here since I was in high school and it’s just part of life here in Orange County. But now that I have kids I get to discover the whole thing all over again through their eyes.
Parenting is the best!

I got to interview Dan, one of The Cube’s spokespeople and here is what I discovered…
{Also a BIG giveaway for locals at the bottom of the post!}

My opinion of the new exhibits along with some pictures and such…

Sherlock Holmes – This is AMAZING! For older kids or adults. Brad and I are going back next week on a date night to enjoy this one at it’s fullest.
Helicopter Tour – You fly around OC inside a virtual helicopter. Great for all ages. I really wish there was a list you could pick up about each of the stops so we can actually visit them in real life. Wowza! Do we live in a beautiful place!
Inspector Training Course – Kids get to find and eliminate invading vectors with their own touch-screen tablet. Kids need to be able to read or have an adult walking them through the activities.
Petersonville Healthy Kitchen – The Cube is the first to have their own interactive kitchen! Keep posted on their site for cooking classes you can do with your kids. I hate strongly dislike cooking but doing something like this as a child could have helped.
Maybe.
Water Gallery – We are in an epic drought here in CA. And you know how I feel about that! My kids loved learning things hands-on with this exhibit.
Eat Well. Play Well. Sleep Well. – This one doesn’t open until later in 2015 but it’s all about keeping healthy with through nutrition, play and sleep. May I suggest a room that brainwashes kids to sleep in past 6am? (Tell me I’m not the only one with early rising kids!?!?)
New Launch Pad Science Store – The store has tripled in size and there are some really cute things for sale (read succulents) and great science activities!
The Rocket Lab – I’m actually not sure if this is new, but it has been totally redone since last year! The kids loved making their own satellite then watching it orbit on a giant screen.
Bean Sprouts – Yummy!! And I met one of the founders and she is super sweet! I’m lucky to get out the door with all my kids wearing shoes, so not having to pack a lunch is like music to my ears!

You can’t forget about the tried and true activities at The Cube…

A lot of people don’t know you can actually go inside the cube. Yes, that giant cube from the freeway has a platform and a few fun science activities that are worth checking out. My kids think it’s so cool… and I do too! When you are inside the cube you get to feel just how big it actually is. When you look up it kinda makes your tummy turn. The cube is enormous.

The interactive exhibits… my kids were at the one below for 15 minutes. There is a rocket lab upstairs, but air blowing up handkerchiefs kept them captivated just as long. Hahahahaha… (They loved the Lab too!)

And Dino Quest. Tess thinks this dinosaur is real, because it blinks and moves it’s tail every so often. And if anyone every tells her otherwise, they might just get a punch in the face. Seriously. (Does anyone else overindulge the baby of the family?)

We love The Cube and we’ll be using our annual passes to go every week this summer to help prevent Summer Brain Drain. Wanna join us?
Good!
Then enter the giveaway in the box below.
{If you don’t win, then consider getting the family pass! It’s only $99 for a family of 6 (two adults and 4 kids… yay for non-big-family discrimination! #4KidsIsTheNew2), no blackout days and discounts inside The Cube as well. I’m not sure if you get discounts on the extra exhibits or not. But if my family were to go to The Cube once without an annual pass it would be $87.70… so spending the extra $11.30 was a no brainer for us. For smaller families… just go twice!}

Good luck from my Cube loving family to yours! (Tess’ face above… I can’t even!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And just in case you missed the front page of the OC Register on Thursday… Eli and I were both quoted at the press preview of The Cube. Read the full article here. (Also did you know, you no longer have to pay to read the OC Register online! Whew!)
The kids think we are famous now. Which is pretty hilarious.