the gold lizard and other discoveries

cold winter weather means we increasingly have to export our activities to burn off the youthful energy of which our house is so superfluously endowed. this does not require creativity and variety as much as it does adherence to prescribed methods. and when it comes to wearing kids out in a climate controlled facility, the science museum is just what the doctor ordered. armed with only a sack lunch, i can literally keep them in the museum all day and have them begging to stay at closing time. with a little careful planning, i can have them running up two flights of stairs to look at a manatee, down another flight to look at a few rocks and around the entire perimeter to see a couple of warthogs. thus, a museum trip can very often be parlayed into an early bedtime. as such, we find ourselves in the building at least a couple of times a week.

possibly the most onerous routing leading to the least impressive display is that of the gold lizard. there is no way to access the metallic reptile other than a long journey through precambrian and paleozoic hallways, up a couple of staircases into the mesozoic floor. the display once demonstrated body temperature regulating techniques of cold blooded organisms, but has been broken for months now. still, heaven help you if you try to get these kids out the door without visiting the gold lizard. 

pickup any phone in the museum and the recorded message will tell you all sorts of information about the display you are looking at. penelope uses the phones to "talk to grandma". if you are ever tempted to think penelope is paying attention to you while you talk to her on the phone, think again. she talks all over the pre-recorded narration about clothes, my little ponies, and other daily minutiae. my patience has not yet allowed me to find the limit of how long she can "talk to grandma". and yes, she even does it when grandma is at the museum with her.

often, the kids will conceptualize and stage timeless photos, such as sitting in front of the mole exhibit, sitting in front of the anteater exhibit, or sitting in front of the impala exhibit. when they get in picture mode, i always feel a profound gratitude for the invention of the digital camera.

the wolf statues out front are neither safe nor sanitary, and at times i'm amazed at the temperatures at which they still want to stop and climb all over them.

on rare occasion, when a grandparent is in town, they will even swing by the t-rex cafe for a $3.75 chocolate milk.