Aj - 9 years old - 2013

At the model Train Museum at Balboa Park, when you get in there is a real set of old railway transit lights where when you push a button, you can actually make it work. Looking at all the old train parts placed around the museum is really cool.

Looking at all of the model trains that are really old can help you learn about real trains and how they work.

We had fun walking on the train tracks built into the floor. When we went, it also had a big LEGO model of all the Christmas

Village sets. I think you might like all of the model trains that you would see as you are walking through it.

There are a lot of model trains. A few of them move, but not all of them. There is a really cool room with a whole bunch of working trains that looks like a big city. I thought it was really cool that all the model trains are controlled by people working inside the rooms. I think it looks like a lot of fun to control all the trains and make sure they don't crash.

There is a place you can play with a bit of LEGO and play with toy trains. My favorite thing was the room with all the LEGO in it. It has almost all of the LEGO train models ever made. There is also a glass cage with wooden LEGO trains. Some of the first LEGO ever. Above that is a screen that shows you the history of LEGO.

I also really liked the train that the guy made that he could ride on. It was a model one, and if he kept shoveling coal into the firebox, he could ride it. I think this is a good museum because trains are cool.

Model Railroad Museum -

San Diego - CA

At the tide pools, you can look at different kinds of rocks and animals including sea urchins, barnacles, starfish, and octopus. Around the place you can see fresh and dried seaweed. The dead seaweed has a really strong odor. It smells bad. It is mostly only at the back and in a few small caves.

You can also find steep cliffs you are able to climb. Some of them are easier to climb than others. There are also a few caves around in the cliffs.

There were guides to tell us about many of the creatures in the tide pools. There were hermit crabs, small fish, and in some of the pool you can see snails, but they're kind of hard to see sometimes.

My favorite thing we did was walking on all the big rocks around the tide pools. It is really fun because you have to try and keep yourself from slipping on all of the seaweed covered rocks.

I think you might like to come here because you can see lots of interesting animals and plants at the tide pools.

I thought the coolest thing that we saw was the octopus. It was hiding under a rock, and the guide was encouraging the octopus to come out. He sometimes came out, but I only saw him stick out one of his tentacles.

I think the tide pools are a good out-and-about activity.

Tide Pools - Cabrillo National Monument -

San Diego - CA

At the CDM, there is a giant metal dog statue at the entrance right next to the gift shop.

My favorite thing I did was there was big blocks with holes that you can put sticks in. You attach special rings to the sticks. Then, you stick tubes in the rings to make a ball track. The balls were like plastic golf balls and I think they would go down the track faster than real ones.

Another thing I thought was really cool was upstairs. There is a room that looks like what an old house might look like. There was a tv, a sewing machine, 2 type writers, and even a real old dictionary!

I really liked the area where there was a grocery store and a pizza restaurant. In the pizza place, you could make a pizza with dough, sauce, pepperoni, green peppers, pineapple, cheese, and olives. I thought it was really cool that you could mix and match all the toppings and make it the way you want. It had a big oven that looked real, but wasn't actually hot. It did have an oar-looking thing you use to take the pizza in and out.

In the grocery store, a lot of the food I had seen before. The cash register had buttons on it. Lynnie was the only one I saw at the register, so I don't know how much other stuff it can do.

There was another building that had a bunch of puzzles you can do. Some of the puzzles you might know, and some your parents might be able to do.

In another room, there was a table you could build your own K'Nex car on. There was a racetrack in the middle of the room that you raced your car on. I built my own and it was the first car the worker had ever seen there with 4 wheels that worked on the track!

There was a place that measured your height and then you got to put your height on the big chart with everyone else. There were boy magnets and girl magnets.

Something I thought was really cool was a seat you bounced up and down on and tried to blow a ball up to the top of a tube.

I think you might like to go because there was a metal wall with a bunch of kitchen utensils. The wall was magnetic, and you could stick all the utensils to the wall. Don't throw them, because it makes it really loud!See my siblings' reviews

Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert -

Rancho Mirage - CA