Trip to the Museum

I'm behind on my blogging! At first I didn't post because not much was happening and I didn't want to bore you with the details of our day in the apartment. But now I haven't written because we've been TOO busy. I don't think there are any readers who anxiously await new posts, so I doubt I owe an apology. But I'll say sorry anyway. I'll try not to let it happen again.
Last Wednesday, I was itching to get out of the apartment. We spent most of our time inside the apartment at the beginning of the week, so I think we were all ready for a fun outing. I was working on finding us somewhere to go, but luckily, Aunt Tricia saved the day and invited us to join her & the kids at the Museum of Life & Science. I took the boys once before when Alex was only a few months old and Jacob enjoyed himself. So I was definitely up for a repeat visit. At this point in the week, Tricia could have asked if I wanted to help her clean their house or join them at the grocery store and I probably would have agreed. Any reason at all to get out of the apartment!
Tricia's friend, Julie, and her son & daughter also joined us. So that you don't have to do the math in your head, there were 7 kids (including the little girl Tricia babysits during the week) and 3 adults. And pretty much every adult & child in the surrounding area since there's no admission fee on Wednesday afternoons. That place was packed. Jacob was dressed in a tie-dyed t-shirt that made him relatively easy to spot in a crowd, but there were still a few moments it took me longer than I would have liked to find him.
He had a blast! There are lots of hands on exhibits, play areas, and animals for the kids to look at. Jacob enjoyed the bug exhibits. I'm still in disbelief that one enormous spider that was dangling from an indoor tree in the back of the room was not behind a glass wall. I don't understand. Will the spider not escape? All I could think is that there better have been some kind of invisible, electric force field between me & that spider. I shudder just thinking about him. And you'd better believe that I looked back at him as I was leaving the room just to make sure he was still there. If I hadn't spotted him hanging out in the exact same place he was the last time I checked, I would have entered into full freak out mode, certain he had made his way into my clothes. Yuck. But I digress. Jacob loved looking at the spiders, scorpions, cockroaches (another favorite of mine), and many other disgusting insects & slimy creatures. We saw fish, tarantulas, snakes, alligators, a donkey, butterflies, & bunnies. We ran, climbed, played in the sand, did some role play (Jacob was a stethoscope-wearing veterinarian taking care of horses while cooking food & sweeping the floor- he wears many hats.) Here are some pics of Jacob enjoying the exhibits. I didn't take any pictures of the spiders. I don't even want them on my computer.

Jacob loved looking at the alligators.


He was also fascinated by the snakes.


Outer space exhibit


The only dinosaur until the big exhibit later this month


This was the first thing Jacob ran to in the kids' play area. He did great climbing the wall! His cousin, Daniel, joined him.




Studying the way skulls work with his cousin, Lainey, & her friend.


Alex riding the horse


Alex was Jacob's veterinary assistant


Alex just started pointing last week. In this picture, he was clarifying exactly which ball he wanted me to hand back to him.


Jacob was very reluctant to move on from this area. He loves playing in the sand.


In the butterfly exhibit


A chicken. Or a rooster. I'm sure it's one of those.


Jacob & Alex enjoyed their playtime with other kids, and Mommy enjoyed her interaction with adults. :) Thanks again for inviting us, Aunt Tricia!