So Monday the 28th we continued our wonderful excursion into DC with a trip to the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History.
Though Chris was ready to be without the kids right away, I really was excited for them to see this. He quickly reminded me how young the kids are so that when JC fell asleep mid-museum, Lizzy cried, and EV had a time-out, I wasn't too frustrated or disappointed. Thank goodness for a second perspective!
Anyway, so we began with the museum closest to the metro station that popped us out mid-Mall right in between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. We saw both those buildings that way for so many days! We actually laughed about it every time we saw them.
The first museum we went to was the closest to us: National Air and Space Museum. We had decided to only see a few exhibits in each museum to cut down on the time and the possible disappointment at not seeing the whole thing. What a good idea that turned out to be!
We saw a whole exhibit on the stars and light and how the universe is made. They did some of it through refraction with prisms (ohhh, pretty rainbows, mommy!) and cartoons. Evie really liked all the stuff about stars, what they're made of and how that same material can be rain.
We also entered the "How things Fly" exhibit. It was so perfect for us. Evie loved all the hands on learning and even Joseph found some things to do. It was so great. They had all the mechanics of flight described in easy to understand object lessons. Even Chris and I learned something new, like a wing on an airplane is shaped the way it is to allow the wing to slice through the air (like I already knew), but comes to a point in the back to allow the air to reconnect itself in the back (new information) in order to keep the plane aloft.
Evie learned that she could change how much she weighed by being on different planets and that gravity was at fault. (try explaining that concept to a four year old!)
They had lots of hands on activities and all the employees encouraged the kids to manipulate the exhibits.
Evie really liked the little "game" that had you re-enter the earth's atmosphere by using buttons that simulated the way it maneuvers. She crashed a whole lot and laughed every time. I think she laughed the hardest when I crashed it though!
After that exhibit daddy and the kids wandered through a space capsule/station kind of thing where people lived in space for a while during missions. Evie thought it was very cool. We looked around in the history of flight section for a bit, but the kids were ready to go so off we went without regrets!
The second museum we went to was the Museum of Natural History. The sky had darkened suspiciously in our trip across the mall and by the time we were inside about 10 min it poured outside. It was so funny. All our time and attention to seeing DC and the museums with the kids and they were most enthralled with the rain storm outside!
Anyway, so the first thing we saw was the Insect Hall. Evie liked the spiders and JC liked the snakes and stuff. I was a little creeped out by the black widow and the scorpions. Even Lizzy found a bug she liked: the little water creepers that swim and run on top of the water.
The hall even had a giant ant hill replica that the kids crawled through.
We left the insects (not a horrible experience by the way) and headed toward the "Living Sea" but got caught in the gems and rocks exhibit first (a previously unknown Chris love). We saw real meteors that had fallen from the sky and watched as a computer generated all the volcanoes and earthquakes that happen in just a few short years. It was amazing. Evie liked the giant globe circling above us. Of all these fun things, including giant rocks and crystals they encourage you to touch, the whole family was most enthralled with the glow-in-the-dark rocks in the simulated mine and the rock that was rendered magnetic by being struck by lightening! We threw paperclips at it (they were provided). Joseph laughed and we had to drag Evie away.
Evie and I took a quick look at all the "princess" jewelry in the gem section. My favorite part is when she gave me the crown of over 200 diamonds and she got the necklace with over 100 diamonds and several sapphires. Then the part where she squealed loudly that "mommy, you have one of those" when she pointed to the largest sapphire in the world not only made me smile, but had me dreaming for a moment. We ended that exhibit with the famed "Hope" diamond which by the way, is boring, relatively small, and not worth taking a picture of with your camera or cell (though most of those crowding the diamond must've thought otherwise).
Finally, we made it to the "Living Sea" section with a giant whale suspended above us and a giant jellyfish whose tentacles were as thick as my arm and three times as long as I am tall. This is where we lost JC to sleepiness. We wandered the penguins and the fish. I loved the tropical fish tank with all the colorful specimens as did my kids.
We ended the exhibit by hitting the antarctic section and the current "show". We watched a globe spin and lasers drew the currents on it as a voice told us about how the water affected the weather and the animals. It was so fun to watch. The best part is we knew the exact moment when Joseph woke up because he shouted loudly, "wow" and pointed at the lighted earth.
The last thing we did was to check out the giant African Elephant and get a picture. The kids weren't as excited after having seen the living ones the Friday before, but they were good for the camera.
Well, that was the end of our last day with the kids in DC. After that it was just the parents. We had a great time with them and though they are quite young it was worth it to take them to all the fun places.
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