Museum of Nature and Science

Monday was a free day at the Museum of Nature and Science.  We have a membership, but my friend wanted to go so it was a good time to go for her.  We knew it would be crowded so we left early to get there right as it opened.  Unfortunately I found out that one of her kids got sick so she wasn't going to make it.  I found this out when I was 10 minutes away from the museum, so we just went by ourselves.  This marked a landmark for me, this was the first time I have gone anywhere big with all 5 kids by myself.  (I've managed going to the store and the library) Also, this was the first time without a stroller for the girls.  It turned out better than I expected.  The girls wandered a lot, but Damon was a great help to keep them under control.  

They had just added a new Kids Discovery Zone, it had a lot of fun things: a big water table.

 A fish tank in a toddler area.

 A digital drawing board.

 A gear table.

 A lighted magnetic building table.

 Dinosaurs and digging for bones.

We all had a fun time.  The kids were tired after about 2 hours.  We quickly saw the mummies and walked into the Space area, but then headed for the van.  The parking lot was so crazy busy, I was glad we got there early and had a great parking spot.  I gave the kids their lunch to eat in the van and we headed for home.  The bad part about this trip was the traffic we ran into.  I-25 was a stand still - I finally decided last minute to exit and find some side streets to head north on.  I am grateful for Google Maps for some directional help.  We passed the traffic area and then got back on the freeway - it was smooth sailing after that.  I was glad that I had lunches for the kids and popcorn too; they finished watching a movie as well.  I was glad that the girls stayed awake so they could take a good nap when we got home.

It was a fun but tiring morning, but a good way to start the week.