Back in November and December, we read through Dinosaurs by Design for science. (I highly recommend the book if you've never read it! Good for adults and children) I had promised the boys that we would go see some dinosaur skeletons at the Milwaukee Public Museum but Rob started working 40 hour weeks and we weren't able to schedule it in. A good problem to be sure, but the boys have had a long wait. This past week, the C.S. closed down for two days to let orders build up again and since we're all finally healthy, we decided to take off for the museum yesterday.
Being the compulsive planner that I am, I had all of my directions written down, coupons for lunch, and the plans in motion. We took off at 8am so we could get there right as the museum opened. Since it was a Friday, I knew there would be loads of school groups so I was hoping we would be able to see the main exhibits we wanted before the big groups went through. We arrived just after nine and parked in the garage right next to the museum. Rob and I decided to rent a stroller for Anna and it's a good thing. We opted for a double stroller so Ben could sit down if he needed to, which he did often. Our children's museum membership got us in for free.
Before we hit the exhibits, we saw the woolly mammoth skeleton at the entrance. The boys were amazed by the size. My main goal for them was to see how huge dinosaurs really were. The boys and I headed up the stairs while Rob and Anna took the elevator and we ran into a small dinosaur skeleton then the skeleton of a whale. We had our family picture taken in front of a green screen and later the photographers put us "in front of" several exhibits. That was pretty neat and I wish I could scan them in, but our scanner is not working right now. So, just picture our family in horror while "watching" a t-rex eat his lunch!
The first place we hit was the Third Planet exhibit. We saw the skeleton of a torosaurus (very cool and big) then viewed geodes and all kinds of fossils, but the entire time, we kept hearing stomping and roaring in the background. The farther into the exhibit we went, the louder it became, and the more distracted the boys were. Finally I said, "Let's just go find that t-rex!" We went past the stegosaurus and other fossils until we entered a room with a life-size t-rex "eating" a triceratops with four or five small scavenger dinosaurs waiting in the wings. There was lightening and lots of sound effects and it all scared the boys to pieces! Anna just pointed at the t-rex and said, "Big doggie!" They wouldn't go anywhere near the barrier and clung to the sides of the room. If that thing had moved, they both would have bolted from the room! We continued past it and ended up in an exhibit of rainforest animals. Anna loved the insects and butterflies. After that, the boys had to go get a second look at the t-rex and weren't quite so intimidated on the second go.
We also walked through Milwaukee in 1893, which was neat. I pointed out things the boys would be interested in, like a candy shop and a toy store and they found a few neat things of their own. They had an actual candy shop in the back and we bought them each a little stick of candy. Then we toured the butterfly garden. Rob and Matthew tried getting butterflies to land on them, but I guess they weren't sweet enough. Anna just loved that exhibit. I showed her where the butterflies ate and later she told me they were eating mac 'n cheese, grilled cheese, fries, eggs, and ham. She stopped to look at the butterflies and was just enamoured with the whole place. Ben didn't like it as much, so he and I ended up leaving early. He did like the insects alive exhibit, complete with tarantula and hissing cockroaches. I'm just glad those things were behind glass!
It was getting pretty close to lunch, but we headed up to the second floor to see if we could see any part of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Nope. Rob and I want to go back on a date and view it by ourselves, especially since it costs extra. We hit the third floor and saw the mummy (Matthew loved it!) and then headed back downstairs to return our stroller and go to lunch. We ran into some friends as we were leaving and it was fun to chat for a bit. Oh, the boys also got a little souvenior of a dino in a bouncy ball with their Valentine's money.
We took off for Steak n' Shake (one of only two in the whole state) and had a good time there. I had some coupons I'd saved so it was a good and cheap meal :) We let the boys order milkshakes b/c we had a buy one get one coupon, but our intent was to share it with them. During the course of the meal, they finished 3/4 of it! They did finish their lunches as well and amazingly, didn't have tummy aches.
We all came home tired, but very happy. Pictures are up on Facebook :)
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