February FULL of Museums

On February 2, we went with the Larsen's (Tanaya and Ty) to the Museum of Natural History in Denver.  I told Elizabeth that we were going and she said she wanted to see a t-rex and an owl. (I actually told her a couple days before we went and she would wake up every day and ask to go- I learned the strength of a toddler's memory!) Right as you walk in there are the bones of a huge t-rex, she LOVED it and from that moment on the excitement grew and grew.

There was a special whale exhibit that was fun to see, Elizabeth didn't really understand the enormity of the whales; we saw a huge whale head and she didn't really get it.  We then went to the kids Discovery zone, where there were a lot of hands on things for Elizabeth to do.  She got to dig like a paleontologist, experiment and play in water, build with blocks and so much more. They had a story time learning about the seasons and at one point the kids were asked to get up and act like chickens- Elizabeth loved this. 

After the discovery zone we went through the dinosaur exhibit; where we were able to talk to an actual paleontologist who was working on cleaning bones.  Then we went through the animal exhibits (looking for an owl) and Elizabeth and Ty enjoyed playing with blocks (weird, I know), pushing the noise buttons and running from one animal to another.  It was an exhausting day, for all of us, but it was so much fun go to the museum with Elizabeth and watching her discover and explore everything.  A museum with a toddler means you don't get to read a lot about the displays but you see a lot!

On February 18, we went with some friends to the Butterfly Pavilion.  There were rooms for different types of bugs, sea creatures, spiders (gah) and a butterfly room. Elizabeth got to look at Rosie, a huge tarantula, but was too young to hold it (unless her Mom wanted to hold her while holding it- so...we didn't) but she did get to touch a hissing cockroach, some star fish and a sand crab.  The Butterfly Room was like a rainforest, with plants everywhere and was very humid, and had loose butterflies everywhere. It was kind of magical to see all of the butterflies and so see some of them up close.  Elizabeth and her friends (Ty, Henry and Nicolas) loved spotting the butterflies and watching the turtles.  We really ended the visit in the discovery room, where Elizabeth got to run, play and explore.  It was a fun visit.

Tanaya and Ty Larsen

On February 19, we went to the Free Day at the Denver Zoo. It was such a warm, beautiful day and a perfect day for something Freeeeeeee!! She was excited to see certain animals and so we were able to go from place to place to see everything.  Right as we walked in we saw the zebras and giraffes (so we could have left then and she would have been excited) which was a fun start.  When we first got there we went to see the Sea Lion show; we were standing right in front of a hanging ball as the sea lion jumped out of the water to touch his nose to the ball. It was so close to us that we almost got splashed.  We then hunted out and found a crocodile, watched otter's play and swim, saw polar bears lounging in the sun and then headed over to the feline exhibit. 

 They have a big tiger that you can watch from an outdoor platform or go into a building and watch close up through a window.  This tiger was quite the performer and strutted around so that everyone got a good look.  We went to look from behind the window and it was shocking to see and be so close to such a big tiger.  He kept walking right up to the glass in front of us, like he was going nose to nose with Elizabeth, before turning to do his strut up and down.  We then saw hyena's, leopards and cheetah's but they were all napping. 

 We then walked over to see the elephants and saw some oxen, a muddy hippo, some monkeys, and different kinds of deer. We got to watch an elephant show, where the elephant did some tricks, and then we went and got a closer look.  By this time, Elizabeth was pretty much done, so we had lunch and headed home.  It was so much fun to make this short morning trip; Elizabeth is at such a great age to enjoy the animals.