It’s March and instead of March sunshine it’s a little gloomy and rain threatens your weekend with the kids or grandkids. H-m-m. What to do? Might I suggest a trip north to the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose? It qualifies as the perfect Day Trip as it’s less than two hours from South County; a four hour stay is ample; and an early dinner on the way home completes the foray.

There’s no doubt when you see the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose that it is for children. The outside is Barney purple (if you’ve been around any little kids in the past 15 years, you know what Barney purple is) and there is a huge yellow rubber ducky on top.

We were there on a weekend, a three-day weekend, and it was crowded, but still doable. There were strollers everywhere and the infectious laugh of children permeated the well laid-out museum.

Lots to do
If there is one thing kids crave in a museum settingit’s interaction and this museum has that in spades. Almost everything is climbable, pokeable, touchable and moveable. My hands-on participants were 5, 3, and 2. I don’t think I could have handles that myself as they seemed to replicate and “the Mom” (Jennifer) and I were off in different directions with various combinations of the three. I may not have DONE everything, but I certainly saw most of it through their eyes. It got a little more complicated when Miss Two decided she no longer wanted to be confined to her stroller and tried to keep up with her older brothers.

The museum store, with its many temptations is located near the entrance/exit so you don’t have to pack around anything extra during your stay and can grab it on the way out.

As we walked down he first “street, the fire engine was the first to get scrutinized. Not only was the truck there for the climbing, but “turnouts” and other equipment were there for the grabbing.

Round and round
Next we headed for the Secrets of Circles, an amazing interactive exhibit that taught me a few things I didn’t know about. There are 15 exhibits and a place to curl up and read about circles. None of our crowd was in the curl-up-and-read mode, but they sure were all for the spinning, rolling, ripple-making, swirling and kaleidoscopes, one of my personal favorites. I could have stayed there for even longer but we had other fish to fry, so to speak.

We then looped “through the past,” which included oldfashioned post office boxes, a real bee colony, an old, old pickup, and even a real phonograph player, one very similar to the one from my childhood. We managed to “set a spell,” about 10 seconds on the porch swing, something old that is becoming new again in our houses of the 21st century.

Then we walked by Water Ways, and I emphasize BY, because “the Mom” took one look at it and reminded me it was winter and she had not brought an extra change of clothes for the boys. Even though all the kids were wearing oilskin aprons, there was a fair amount of wetness going around. The fascinating exhibit allows kids to see how water gushes, rushes and flows by the way they use the colorful plastic balls. They can even create their own water fountain and sit beneath the Rain Shanty to hear the rain on the roof. I acquiesced to the walk-by since I didn’t have any spare clothes either.

Our next stop was down a few stairs to Bubbalogna. This is WAY better than blowing bubbles in the back yard. We saw bubbles, dance, stretch and capture light. All very explainable by physics, which I had no intention of learning. I will stick with the wonder of bubbles. It was really fun.

Eat in or picnic out
We decided to bypass the cafeteria, which was pretty crowded and it really wasn’t a day to go outside for a picnic, which I would encourage in warmer weather. The Kids’ Café is operated by Hope Rehabilitation Services and serves moderately priced, family-oriented fare from what I could see.

Next we headed upstairs. I took Wade, soon to be four, into the Wonder Cabinet, geared for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. This 3,000 square-foot space is packed with hand-on stuff and even has a special room for the tiny ones who aren’t walking yet. Wade tunneled, climbed into a kaleidoscope, explored the sand laboratory, peered into the dozens of education dioramas along the way and generally ran here, there and everywhere. No strollers are allowed in that particular space, so there is more room for these active kids. Although we didn’t participate, there is an art studio open there from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

After a considerable amount of time there, we were off to join his brother and sister in the pizza kitchen, certainly their favorite. This is a pint-sized pizza kitchen where they can be either the proprietor or the customer as each pizza is piled high with mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni and “extra cheese,” please. Of course, the pizza and toppings are plastic, but the enthusiasm is genuine.

By that time I was fading fast, so we left and headed down the road for linner (late lunch, early dinner). Speaking of heading down the road, this is an easy one to get to. Take 101 north to 85 south of San Jose then exit 85 to 87 and head for downtown. A few miles later edit on San Carlos/Auzerais and the museum will be in front of you. Take an immediate right into the parking lot on Woz Way.

Parking Note: There is only one working machine in the Woz Way lot, and the cost of parking is $5. The machine does not always issue change and does not accept charge cards, so please be prepared to pay with $1.00 bills or a $5.00 bill. Recently, there have been instances when a person is in the lot taking payments. Please do not pay any attendant who is not readily identifiable as a parking lot attendant and who cannot issue an authorized receipt.

The Museum does not reimburse for parking fees. We were lucky enough to have someone leaving and hand us their parking ticket. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to pay the $5 – there were about 20 people in line and the line moved VERY slowly. It was easier to give restitution when we left.

FYI – The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. -5 p.m. and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $8 for adults and children. Infants less than a year are free and seniors 60+ are $7. For more information check out www.cdm.org