What constitutes a family?

No more than two adults and four children, according to the membership criteria at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

And that's a problem for Linda and Doug Dyson of Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, who have eight children.

When Mrs. Dyson called the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which include the Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, the Science Center and The Andy Warhol Museum, she said she was told her family didn't qualify to buy a family pass for $130.

She said the woman in guest services said there were too many members in her family.

Mrs. Dyson, who will be 39 on Friday, home schools Casey, 17, Heather, 15, Shayne, 9, Tyler, 8, Christopher, 8, Evan, 8, Samantha, 7, and Daymon, 5. Six of the children are adopted. She and her husband, a salesman and part-time pastor, want their children's education to include visits to the museums, science center and conservatory.

She said a woman at Phipps Conservatory said its family pass, which sells for $75, is limited to two adults and four children.

"She said we could buy the family pass and pay an additional $6 for each of the other four children every time we go. She said they had to draw the line somewhere.

"I am tired of places saying they have a family pass when it is actually only for what they say can be a family," Mrs. Dyson said. "We are a family, not a random group."

She said the only facility in Pittsburgh that "allows us to be the family we are" is the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium in Highland Park. The Dysons pay $55 for a family pass and make the 90 minute drive from Punxsutawney as often as they can.

I called Betsy Momich, a spokeswoman for the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. She said the membership criteria were established "by looking at the economics of admissions. Unfortunately, it can't cover all families."

She said the museums have four other levels of membership -- senior, for those 65 and older, $50; individual, $75; dual membership (two adults or one adult and one child). $100; and premium (two adults, eight other adults or children, and one caregiver), $200.

Although it is $70 more than the family membership, Ms. Momich said the premium membership would appear to be the best deal for the Dysons. She said it would more than pay for itself after two visits to the science center.

In addition to free admissions to the museums and science center, and to UPMC's SportsWorks and Evening Laser Shows at the science center, the premium membership includes reciprocal privileges with select art and natural history museums and 10 half-off discount coupons on standard IMAX films. And $158 of the membership fee is tax deductible.

Mrs. Dyson was noncommittal about the premium membership. She said the museums and conservatory should come up with another name for their family passes if their criteria continue to exclude families with more than four children.

She said the family had a similar experience with the Punxsutawney Community Pool two years ago when it increased the price of its season pass from $85 to $207. She said the price was rolled back, thanks to pressure from her and her husband and from other families who thought the pool management was being unfair.

She hopes the museums and conservatory will consider expanding their definitions of what constitutes a family.

I'll keep you posted.

For more information on the museums and the conservatory, go to www.carnegiemuseums.org and www.phipps.conservatory.org.