Ian's Museum

One of the best things about living in Durham with kids is the phenomenal Life and Science Museum. They have lots of land very close to downtown, and a huge range of things of interest to a young boy (and to his future older self). Ian goes for an hour or two almost every weekend. Although most kids his age seem to experience the museum from their strollers, we prefer to let Ian walk (which does, admittedly, make for a slower and less logical progression through the grounds). Doug and I found it quite amusing today to see what he found intesting. In addition to the actual exhibits and designed exploration areas, Ian was very satisfied with the rocks, gravel, mulch, etc., he found along the paths. Here he is approaching a pine cone:

As a frequent visitor, Ian knows certain areas of the museum very well (although there are still parts we haven't seen at all, since it's very large). He walked right up to the chimes area and pulled a mallet out of the container:

The museum just opened a new dinosaur trail. It is a big attraction and is drawing people from outside areas. There are other areas that we like better, but today we spent some time with the dinos. Here Ian and I are pictured with the only dinosaur that can be touched and climbed upon:

There is a fossil digging area, where they brought in dirt from a mine that was laden with fossils (mostly things like shark teeth). Ian may not have realized the significance of the fossils, but he definitely enjoyed using the shovels and pail (at one point he was using two shovels at once -- fortunately since it was a chilly day, he had the entire large digging area to himself and could do what he wanted):

I was surprised a couple of weeks ago to go to the "Explore the Wild" part of the museum for the first time and realize how extensive it is. We still haven't gotten past the first few exhibits. There is a long meandering high boardwalk that goes over an old quarry that is now a large pond for wildlife. A bit of a walk brings you to the beautifully designed brown bear exhibit, where you can see the bears fairly close up, but they have lots of space, waterfalls, climbable cliffs, and grassland to range on. That's as far as we got today, but it was quite a walk for Ian (at least half a mile from the museum entrace). Here he is on the walk back up the boardwalk:

We look forward to a lot more weekend visits to the museum!