Chapter 14 – South Carolina
Greenville – Children's' Museum of the Upstate
The relatively short – an hour and one half - drive to Greenville South Carolina put the family at the Children's Museum of the Upstate around 1520. They would have about an hour and one half to explore the sixty-thousand square foot facility before it closed. Ziva showed the QR code for the prepaid tickets to the young man at the entry desk. He scanned it and printed wristbands for each of the seven DiNozzos, two blue for adults, and five yellow for children between three and fifteen.
Anthony read the sign near the entrance and laughed out loud, "All adults must be accompanied by a child." The other kids joined in the laughter.
"Why does it say that?" Beth was used to the signs saying children had to be in the company of an adult.
Tony grinned at his brood, "Maybe because it's a Children's museum? The whole place and its sister facility in Spartanburg are designed for kids."
"Or they don't want creepy people watching the kids?" Tali had heard too much of the conversation of the adults in her family. "It's to keep the kids safe."
Ziva inwardly sighed; she and Tony had tried to shield their five from the terrible things people could do to each other for as long as possible. Tali had just turned twelve, and Ziva knew that middle school kids were much more aware of the types of things perverts and evil-minded people could do to youngsters.
The museum employee handed the wristbands and three museum maps to Ziva. She thanked him and turned to see all of her family, big kid included, staring with mouths agape at the central focus of the museum. The multi-story Climber took up much of the center of the ground-level floor of the museum. Nets, platforms at varying heights, some with waves and some with slopes, and ramps for access adorned the structure.
"Whoa…" Rivka was duly impressed.
"Yeah, whoa," LJ echoed. "Are we allowed to go in there?"
Tony just stared at the climbing structure.
Ziva walked in front of the six to get their attention, "Yes, you may climb. It says it is for children of all ages. That is up to fifteen years of age according to the museum's definition of a child. So, no, Tony you may not climb."
He pouted at his wife's words, "Well darn. The next place better have a climber for everyone!"
Ziva put one of the museum maps in his hand, "I suggest we start at the bottom floor and work our way up; the same approach we used at Discovery Place."
On the bottom floor, the Garage Rock exhibit featured hands-on exploration of different types of sounds through a variety of instruments and materials. Tali spent more of her time at Garage Rock than at any other station on the first level.
Anthony found the Animation Station. He soon had the hang of the computerized animations and created a series of moving sketches. He also spent some time in the Garage Rock area experimenting with the sounds.
Rivka and Beth checked out the Garage Rock and the Animation Station, but when they found the Reedy River Bend, the twins were hooked. They learned about various chemical and physical properties of water with multi-leveled channels featuring miniature dams and waterfalls. One of the draws for the girls was the moveable elements that allowed the two to make their own dams and waterfalls.
LJ was immediately drawn to Sensory Square, a space designed for children of all ages to utilize their five senses and engage with various colors, shapes, lights, and other immersive exhibit elements. His creative, artistic side came out in full force.
When Ziva reminded them all that there were two more floors to explore, plus the Climber, all grumbled about leaving the bottom floor activities.
"I was just getting to a musical composition with the off-the-wall 'instruments' with Tali's help," Tony groused. "But I guess we can come back if we have time."
On the second level, the Up in the Air activities which explore various aspects of aerodynamics, including a wind tunnel and paper airplane station, had all seven engrossed. Ziva's paper airplane flew the longest distance.
"How did you do that Ima?" Tali asked the question for the curious kids.
Tony smirked, "She learned from the best." He pointed his thumbs at his chest and grinned. "I used to fly paper airplanes at your mother and Uncle Tim to annoy them on slow days."
Ziva snorted, "Ha! Your pathetic paper planes could barely make it across to my desk or over to Tim's. Mine, on the other hand, could fly from my desk to Tim's easily."
"Mine flew almost as far as your plane did," he retorted. "And at NCIS…"
"You were the only one who Gibbs ever caught. Tim and I would have to duck our heads down to avoid laughing out loud at the expressions on your face when you got the head-slap…"
LJ and the others listened to their parents' banter with amusement and interest. They all liked hearing about the days when Ima and Abba worked at NCIS for Grandpa. Most of the stories were funny or silly, usually with Abba being a goofball and Ima trying not to get caught as his sidekick.
Ziva finally threw her hands up in the air with a shrug, "Enough of this. Let us go to the other activities on the third floor and then everyone – no, not you, Tony – can go on the Climber."
The third floor had several places that the whole family could be involved in an activity. In Fun & Games, they played with life-size checkers, chess, and Kerplunk. The females teamed against the males for checkers and the game ended in a win for Ziva and her daughters.
The life-sized Kerplunk had plastic balls like those found in ball pits, plastic dowels for the rods to hold the balls in a chicken-wire-like tube and frame. Rather than teams, the seven DiNozzos took turns pulling a rod from the cylinder. Each had two turns before the balls started shifting. LJ was up next; he carefully inspected the remaining rods, and slowly extracted one. A few balls fell from the cylinder, but most remained inside.
"Your turn Abba," he grinned. "I think it's gonna be it."
"Nah; I'm going to get my rod out with success, and Ima is going to crash all the balls down. She's after me."
Tali snickered, "Famous last words there Abba…"
Tony flexed his hands and walked around the column, inspecting his choices. He frowned at the contraption, and walked the other direction to assess the options.
Ziva grew impatient with his antics, "Choose one and remove it already! Besides, if we want to play the mini-golf, we have to finish this game soon."
"I am… almost… ready…" he took hold of a bright orange rod and slowly moved it. Balls started shifting, and the kids were laughing already. "Hey, if I do this right, they won't all fall…" He tugged the rod a bit more, and two balls fell from the column. "Or I could just yank it like this," he pulled the rod rapidly and all but two of the balls rained on the space below the cylinder.
"And then change the rules to the one with the most fallen balls wins!" He smirked at his family who were just about doubled over laughing.
"Whatever, Abba," Riv chuckled more. "You lost!"
The mini-golf was interesting for the lessons with each hole. Geo's Golf, a mini golf course with 9 STEM-focused and Upstate-inspired holes, is designed to teach kids about the game and history of golf. While they were on the second to last hole, an announcement that the museum was closing in fifteen minutes came over the PA system. The family decided to finish the golf game and head out.
While no one got to try the Climber, they were all happy with the various activities that they did get to try.
"I'm okay with not getting on the Climber," LJ announced to the others. "Yeah, it would have been cool to climb to the top, but we have similar things at home."
"True," Beth agreed. "The things we did get to explore were a lot of fun."
Tali shrugged at her siblings look, "I probably wouldn't have climbed a whole lot anyhow. Seems more for younger kids to me."
"Ima, when are we going to eat? I'm hungry!" Anthony commented as the family made their way back to the family van. "My hamburgers, fries, and shake left a long time ago."
Riv added her two cents' worth, "I agree with Anthony. I'm hungry also."
The family stopped at a buffet steak house chain and filled up on all sorts of delicious foods for dinner. They even had soft-serve ice cream for dessert. Afterwards, it was back in the van for the drive to their lodging for the night.
"Next stop, Marietta, Georgia for two nights. If the traffic cooperates around Atlanta, it should be about a two- and one-half hour drive from here to there," Ziva read from the GPS screen before she pulled onto the entrance ramp to I-85 southbound for Georgia.
