First Day of Summer Vacation

A few days ago I asked the kids what they wanted to do on their first day of summer vacation. They all agreed (amazingly) that they wanted to go to the Natural History Museum downtown. They were so excited to ride the Metro and see this wonderful museum again.
I love living so close to so many great museums. We can go whenever we want, and since it is free, we can leave whenever the kids get tired--preferably before any major meltdowns. We stayed a bit to long this time, but for the most part, it was a great time. Maybe next time we can time it right....

We discovered some new things this time around--a totem pole right near the front entrance that we've always missed, and the Discovery Room, a hands-on room for kids.

The kids learned about all sorts of cool things--bones, minerals, shells, animals, and even got to dress up like children from around the world.

One of our favorite places in the Museum is the Insect Zoo.

Sarah with the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.

Rachel with a Lubber Grasshopper.

Did I hold these, you may wonder? Not this time, since so many other kids wanted a chance (yeah right) but I have held the hissing cockroach before. I couldn't let David think I was too big of a wimp.

We also went to the Gems section of the Museum. We saw the Hope Diamond (all 45.72 carats) and other famous jewels. We always laugh when we remember when we brought Sarah here as a small child. After looking at a particularly beautiful diadem, she pointed to it and exclaimed, "Mommy, this is what I want for Christmas!" Dream on, child.

Rachel loved playing with this crystal ball and was pretending to read our futures.

The kids' favorite place is the Hall of Mammals. I'm always amazed at the diversity of creatures God made for us on this earth, and the best thing about the Hall of Mammals is that we can see them so up close.