Space...the Final Frontier

Today was Jake's day off work, so we decided we needed to get out of the house and maybe to do something new. Then I remembered that we had some free tickets for the Eugene Science Factory's Planetarium. Perfect! I figured that since we were big Star Wars enthusiasts, it would be a good time PLUS a learning experience.

However, when we arrived for the 2pm show, we found out from the gal behind the desk (who looked skeptically at Brendan) that we'd missed the "show for all ages" at 1pm and that the 2pm show was recommended for the 8 and older crowd. Dang it! But, since we'd come all the way over, I figured it was worth a try. If the natives got restless, we could always bail - and, hey, it wasn't like I was blowing any money on the experience anyways. Plus, there was a really good chance that they could be interested in the whole night sky thing. Win, win, right?

So, after a quick potty run and browsing their pint-sized gift shop slash wall (pretty much just a wall and a couple of shelves of bobbles and simple science experiments), we heard the call for the 2pm show and off we went to claim our seats. Much to our surprise, we were the only ones in the place! So the super nice planetarium lady gave us our own personal show - she even changed her equipment over and gave us the "for all ages" presentation! Caleb was very intrigued and Brendan pointed out some of the things he saw, including a red star (which we later discovered was not Mars, but actually part of the constellation Scorpio). The lady cracked a number of silly astronomy jokes and gave a wonderful presentation. It was an education for us all.

I have to say that I got a big kick out of it, too. The last planetarium show I'd gone to was at VVC when I took astronomy. There truly is something magical and mind-blowing about looking out into the cosmos, at all the possibilities, the vastness of God's creations. It makes you feel sort of small, yet part of something amazing at the same time. It also reminds me of Young Women's Girls Camp when we climbed up on top of the water tower near our campground in Jackson Flats, pillows and blankets in hand, to look up at the stars and sing. I remember feeling very close to my Heavenly Father, knowing that He created such a beautiful and incredible universe for us, His children.