Friday Field Trip!

Well I've finally downloaded and edited the photos from our Friday field trip! This Friday we went to the American Museum of Natural History. Jeremy rearranged his work schedule for the day so he could join us, which was good since I wasn't sure about carrying the stroller up and down the subway steps with my sore toe! We had lunch at McDonalds first, while Jeremy finished up a conference call (reception is sketchy in the subway tunnels) then we were on our way!

Here are Josh, Jon, and Jordan on the subway. Some of the subway lines are nicer than others. This was not one of the pretty ones.


We just got off the subway. Jordan is showing off his Star Wars toy from McDonalds.


Jon likes to play class clown. I guess he's not sure where the rabbit ears should go.


Here are the older 3 in the hall showcasing all the birds found in New York. I'm thinking we'll have to get some binoculars for the boys and go bird watching in Central Park one of these days. I'd much rather see them alive rather than stuffed and behind glass. Very educational, though.


Joey, my good actor. You'd almost think from this performance that he's actually a sweet little angel. Behind him are various stuffed rats, and maybe a beaver.


Josiah has found his toes.


Jonathan learning about Native Americans.


Okay, this is what they came for. From the minute we walked in the museum doors, all they could talk about was wanting to see "Dum Dum" (or Gum Gum as Jordan calls him). If you've seen Night at the Museum you'll know what they're talking about. Well, they finally found him and posed for a picture...


Joey's turn...


Behind the statue the wall curves up to the window and my children (and the other groups of school-aged children there) had to scootch up this wall and then slide down. Over and over. And over.


This is, in my opinion, the coolest exhibit we saw. It's called Scale of the Universe or something similar, and it compares sizes from galaxies down to electrons going by one power of 10 at a time, using that big round structure in the middle as the basis for comparison. If that big structure is the sun, then Jupiter and Saturn are the size they are shown. Joshua loves space and was very interested in this part.


Joshua reading the displays...


You can't leave Joey out of a picture without him insisting that it's his turn...


Having fun with the steel supports that just happen to have kid-sized holes in them...


More fun with the supports...


Still more fun with the supports...


We like to do things backwards. This hall is supposed to be the main entrance, but because we came in downstairs from the subway station, we came here last. The dinosaur skeletons are enormous. The sheer size of them is totally lost in the pictures.


Jonathan and a smaller dinosaur.


Joshua.


Sweet, loving brothers. They're like this all the time. Really. No REALLY. Oh, alright.


I put the camera on the floor at Jon's feet to take this picture. Look how tiny the dinosaur's head is. That shows that it's really far away and hopefully gives some idea of how long his neck is.


Since the museum is on Central Park West, we decided to walk to a playground for a bit when we left. We stopped to take some pictures by the lake. This is where we've taken the boys rowing twice now.


Isn't it pretty? You can almost forget that you're in the middle of the biggest city in the country.


Daddy and Joey, with Joshua in the background.


Here we are at the playground. This playground has a really cool water feature that we'll have to come back and try. We didn't do it this time, since I didn't have towels or extra clothes and we had to get back on the subway.
Here are the boys climbing on a fort-like structure.


Up goes Joey...


Hey, guys, look at ME!


Josh and Jon on a different play structure.


We had a great time! We joined the museum so that we can go back as often as we'd like to over the next year. I plan on using it for both history and science field trips, and just focusing on a small area of the museum at a time (the place is huge...we only saw maybe a quarter of it).

Check back later to see what our next adventure might be!!