My Favorite Thing To Do With Kids: Melia Tourangeau

Name: Melia Tourangeau

Kids: Olivia, 11, and Zacharie, 8

Melia Tourangeau moved to Pittsburgh with her husband, Mike, a stay-at-home dad, and their two children in 2015 when she started her job as president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony. One of her new colleagues gave her a family membership to the Carnegie Museums as a welcome gift. It proved to be a great introduction to family fun.

“We love the Carnegie Museums,” says Tourangeau, who lives in the North Hills. “The Science Center and Natural History Museum are our two go-to places – especially on a crummy day.

“My son is obsessed with trains, so the train exhibit is really amazing. And the robots right next to the train. That’s where we spend most of our time. They also love the submarine. We’ve spend many a time crouching under doorways, bumping our heads.

“In the Natural History Museum, they love the gems. We’ll spend hours looking at the gems. My son’s other obsession is rocks. It is amazing how many of the rocks in that exhibit he actually knows.”

Why is family time so important to her?

“For me, it’s therapy — getting unplugged from the stress at work and spending quality time with your family and with your kids,” she says. “They grow up so quickly and it will be over before you know it. My husband was faced with a brain tumor many years ago, and it kind of puts everything in perspective when you have an experience like that. You can’t let life pass you by.”