I have to admit that I had been a negligent parent. I had not taken my kids to the Boston Children’s Museum. I fixed that problem when I finally brought them to Boston’s waterfront last Friday.

There is plenty for young kids to experience and enjoy. I shouldn’t have waited so long.

Right at the entrance is the three-story climbing maze. The Boy went charging right in and up. The Girl had second thoughts and came right back out. We continued on while he continued to go up and down.

The Girl went to the KidPower exhibit next door and started pulling, pushing, and climbing.

I was surprised that The Boy was intrigued by the flying leaf machine in the “Out on a Limb” exhibit. He kept grabbing the fabric leaves and throwing them into the plastic tube over the fan. He spent an hour throwing the leaves in and watching them float up.

The only miss at the Boston Children’s Museum was the “Japanese House.” It’s a fully equipped 100-year-old Japanese House reconstructed in Boston by Japanese carpenters inside the Museum. Given the age of the structure, it’s mostly a no touch zone, standing out in sharp contrast to the rest of the museum. The Japanese House off the main traffic flow at the back of the third floor.

There are plenty of other exhibits and things to do. Bring your young kids. They will have a great day.

It’s easy to see why the Boston Children’s Museum is one of the 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts.

Did you know there was a great science center for kids in Hartford?

The Connecticut Science Center opened in Downtown Hartford last summer. It’s been on my list to visit ever since. We had an opportunity to swing by on the way back from our visit to the King Tut exhibit.

It was such a great place to visit that I published the story on GeekDad: GeekDad Visits the Connecticut Science Center.

Mix together the scientific exploration of wave theory, climate change, maritime disaster, and surfing. Layer it solid story-telling and great prose. Add a dash of big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. On second thought, add a big cupful of Mr. Hamilton. The result is Susan Casey’s The Wave: In the Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean.

For centuries, mariners have told tales of gargantuan waves. Until recently scientists dis­missed these stories as exaggerations. Waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. In February 2000, the British research vessel, Discovery was trapped in maelstrom and battered by mammoth waves in the North Sea. They managed to survive and came back with scientific proof that 100+ foot waves are out there.

Unfortunately, most sailors who encounter these beasts are in no position to measure them accurately and their boats are unlikely to survive them.

As scientists try to understand them, big wave surfers are trying to ride the ones that make it to shore. The focus of the book is the tribe of surfers looking for big perfect waves. As the waves get that big, its not just about riding the waves, but surviving their incredible power. Laird Hamilton is the star of this crew and the surfing stories revolve around him.

The world’s oceans absorb the vast majority of the heat added to the climate system. After all, oceans cover most of the Earth’s surface. More heat, means more energy and bigger waves. The hundred-year wave height in the Pacific Northwest measured 33 feet in 1996. Now, it’s 46 feet; maybe even higher.

Ms. Casey paints an interesting juxtaposition between the mariners looking to weather reports to avoid big waves and the surfers looking to find the waves. Scientists try to understand the intricate complexities of wave systems and the surfers who can feel them. In the end, playing in the waves sounds a lot more fun than leaning over a laptop trying to understand them.

The publisher was nice enough to send me a preview a copy. If you have an interest in oceans, waves, or surfing, The Wave would be a great book for you to read.

The Wave comes ashore and goes on sale September 14.

We brought the kids face-to-face with King Tut.

That was part of our road trip to the Discovery Center in Times Square to see the traveling exhibit of King Tut and ancient Egyptian artifacts.

Read more in my latest post in GeekDad: GeekDad Visits King Tut.

Four of the GeekDad moms, Natania Barron, Kathy Ceceri, Corrina Lawson and Jenny Williams have gathered a tremendous team of contributing writers and set the awesome goal of doing for geeky moms what GeekDad has done for us dads.

GeekDad has always been about parenting, but the moms are looking to branch out.

Visit GeekMom!

I took a break from visiting the 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts and ended up south of the border. The family visited the Mystic Aquarium.

It was a great place so I figured I would share it with the larger GeekDad audience. You can read more about our visit on Wired’s GeekDad: GeekDad Visits the Mystic Aquarium.

Yes, that’s sea lion poo!

From 2010 Mystic aquarium

I don’t think anyone is surprised that Harvard Yard appears on the list of 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts. It’s the centerpiece of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. The Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony voted to establish the institution in 1636.

It was named after the College’s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard. When he died in 1638 he left his library and half his estate to the institution. A statue of John Harvard stands today in front of University Hall in Harvard Yard. Rubbing his foot for good luck is long standing tradition. (You can see how shiny his foot is from all the rubbing.)

I stopped by early in the morning. Under the dawn light, there was only one other person around. That young student had the dazed look of not knowing whether it was very early in the morning or very late in the afternoon.

Voyager 2 and Neptune (Combination of images from NASA)

Of the many great things that happened today, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to the planet Neptune in 1989. To celebrate, I made a guest appearance today on Wired‘s This Day in Tech: .

One of the reasons I’m continuing on my quest to visit each of the 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts is to introduce the kids to new and fun places. A new discovery was Davis Farmland in Sterling. I’ve passed by the place during the Climb to the Clouds, but never visited.

So I decided to drag along The Son and one of his friends. When presented with the choice of Davis Farmland or Davis Mega Maze, they chose the maze. So we took a right-hand turn instead of a left hand turn. We will have to come back another day to visit farmland.

We had such a great time at the Mega Maze that I decided to turn it into a story for GeekDad: Lost in a Cornfield Maze.

The Wachusett Dam in Clinton puts a stopper the Nashua River creating the Wachusett Reservoir. In 1897, the Nashua River was chosen over Lake Winnipesaukee, Sebago Lake, and the Merrimac River as the new water source for Boston to deal with the rise of indoor plumbing.

Six and 1/2 square miles were flooded in the towns of Boylston, West Boylston, Clinton and Sterling when they began filling in water behind the dam. When it was completed in 1905, the Wachusett Reservoir was the largest public water supply reservoir in the world.

The reservoir’s water is conveyed by the Wachusett/Weston Aqueduct to Weston Reservoir and then by pipeline to the Chestnut Hill and Spot Pond Reservoirs.

In my youth, we would stop at the dam after picking apples at a nearby orchard. The steep, downstream river banks were great for rolling down. and rolling. and rolling. There is a great fountain at the bottom of the imposing stone structure, in an idyllic stetting for a picnic.

At least it used to be.

The top of the dam has been mostly closed since 9/11. There is a fence restricting access to the great downhill rolling area. PCBs were discovered in the dam’s caulking in 2007, leading to broad restriction on access.

The setting is impressive enough to get it on the list of 1,000 Great Places in Massachusetts.