A Little History Lesson

Yesterday we ventured out of the present to explore the past. Really, I think I just made our little trip to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum sound a little bit more exotic than it actually was. I grew up in Las Vegas, but I don't ever remember going to the Natural History Museum on any field trips or anything like that.

Pigtail Princess Cousins

It is located in a part of town that is well past its prime. As soon as we walked into the museum, I took a deep breath in. It smelled just as I remember my first elementary school smelling like.

Old.

I can't really describe it beyond that. It smelled like it had been around since 1960 (no offense to those of you who read this blog who were around then...). Anyway, we looked at the map and we were on our way.

We started out in the dinosaur room. The kids freaked out. I can't say that I blame them. Not only were the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops (yes, I spell checked those) huge and moving, but the room was dark and if we pressed a button, the T-Rex growled. (I still haven't gotten around to debrief our recent trip to Disneyland, but the dark rides were traumatizing to Miss Chloe, and yet, I keep taking her to dark attractions. I think I am trying to help her escape a life of being afraid of the dark like her mom. It is very debilitating). The kids were not fans.

Grace's reaction to seeing the big dinosaurs. She just kept saying, "Oh no!"

Chloe soon pointed out a very well lit area of the museum. It was the hands on area and the kids loved it. They searched for fossils like archaeologists, stood under a domed aquarium, tried on scuba gear and basically made a mess of the place. But they were smiling. We got to see some baby sharks still in their eggs just about ready to hatch. We saw sharks and sea rays and dolphins. Chloe was intrigued by an exhibit of safari animals. There were two lions attacking a zebra. Very graphic. She looked up at me and said, "Mom, those lions are being grumpy. They need to have good attitudes." So right...but then again, they would starve otherwise, right?

After brushing the dirt off of each buried fossil, Chloe would get so excited about what she had found. She would then bury the fossils again and still be excited when she brushed off the same dirt from the same fossils. Maybe Santa will bring her a big load of dirt for Christmas...


Grace especially loved the exhibit of the prehistoric men. They were a cross between monkeys and men. As soon as she saw the hairy statues, she said, "Hi Daddy!" I will have to let Oscar know that her perception of him is not as flattering as he may have thought. Perhaps its time to consider a good shave.

"Hi Daddy!"

The kids loved it, I liked it and to be quite honest, by the end of the tour, I didn't even notice the smell anymore! If you are interested in taking this same journey, you can get a 2 for 1 coupon on their website. Kids 2 and under are always free!