Museum Opening

We got to go to the opening of the Natural History Museum at the University of Utah on Friday.
It was really a LOT of fun, and FREE!
It was really well organized too. You signed up to go, and they gave you a time you should come, so not everyone showed up at the same time.
Then you could park in any of the available parking, and a big shuttle bus would come by and take you to the museum. It worked out really well for us.
We went with Tyson's sister Heidi, her daughter cousin Natalie, and Owen's friend Isaiah from down the street!

We got a little lost, as I accidentally got off the freeway one exit too early. (And it's one of those that you don't just get off, but it puts you on a different freeway and you end up far away in a totally different direction) But thanks to Heidi's smart phone and GPS we quickly found our way back :)

The museum is a really beautiful building, and really kid friendly :)
They had people set up all over with kid friendly activities. In the Native American wing, there was a woman with a Native American game to play with the kids! Owen and Isaiah played with her.

Because it was the opening, they had EVERYTHING open to see. This included a behind the scenes look at how they store artifacts and specimens. We also got a look at their labs. Here are the boys looking at a dead chipmunk, learning how they prepare the skeleton.

There were also rooms on each floor that had toys and activities for kids. Here is Isaiah with a porcupine puppet :)

Here is Owen with a ladybug finger puppet.

The bug glasses. The boys LOVED these. I thought I had a picture of Isaiah in these too, but apparently it didn't take. :(

They had a couple of pretend digs for the kids to play on. This one showed how they dig different levels, and how they grid the area that they are working in. The kids had a great time climbing in and out of different holes.

The dinosaur wing had a lot of these transparent floors with fossils beneath them. Pennie and Natalie wouldn't walk on them. I think it kind of freaked them out :)
But once Owen tested it out a bit, he LOVED it !

Owen and Isaiah "digging" out a fossil!

The girls help out. Though Natalie didn't want to actually get IN the dirt :)

Owen was VERY serious about the project.

Owen and Isaiah standing in a cast of a dinosaur foot print!

We had a really good time, and I would definitely take the kids back someday :)