McKinley Revisted

Monday was a holiday and not everyone in our co-op could make it to classes, so we opted to have a field trip instead. Because of the cold/weather we also decided to go to the more local McKinley Museum. We have a family membership there and each time we go, we do manage to focus on something different. This time was no exception.

Posing in the T-Rex Head

Ahhhh! He's got me!

Somebody help! I don't want to diiiiiiiiiieeee.....

If I were only a little taller you'd actually see me being eaten.

Peek-a-boo!

Cheese! This dino won't get me down!

Ah...Ah...Ah...I don't think I like this Hurry up and take the picture, ok?

Ruth focused more, this time, on the large Mastadon (though what Mastadon isn't large?). This particular one is really cool. It was found just off of I77 in Canton (Fulton Road area). It was trapped in a bog, so what you see are actual bones, not fossils. The bones were removed and then treated to prevent decay and are now on display.

It's time for a little archaeology here. Dig up those bones!

Finally! My turn with the bucket.

Observing the fish in the Local Habitat display

One of the more popular animals there-the turtle

Especially the baby turtle

The Crayfish was also really cool. I was commenting on how big he had gotten since the last time we were there. (And thinking how blue he looked, too) Turns out, he's bigger because he's not the same guy. The Crayfish only live about a year and then get eaten by the curator and so they bring in another one. This guy had shed (hence the blue color) and was waiting for his new shell to harden. He was being fed while we were there and it was kinda cool to watch him grab and eat the earthworm. (He only eats once a week they said, so we were fortunate to witness it.)

Making tracks in the sandbox. There are all kinds of really neat animal prints that you can use to make tracks in the sand. I had to make the kids leave because they were more interested in digging than any real educational purposes.

Trying on the Bee Keeper's hat (and David's shirt says: There's a Party in My Tummy!" Isn't that the height of irony? We thought so, hence the reason we bought it.)

The new, really cool, tornado simulator

Riding the Chair that is drawn up by the suction of a Hoover Vaccum

Coming out of the Saloon

I told her ladies don't frequent the saloon...

The real draw. It's not like we don't have one at home...

Gazing at fine art. Or maybe it was really a list of local firechiefs from the last century...

Getting ready to come down the fire pole