Natural History Museum

It is weird not being at church on a Sunday morning, but I must admit it is kind of nice too. I can completely understand how easy it would be to get in the habit of sleeping in, reading the paper, watching cartoons and doing some chores around the house.

(By the way, this is one of the reasons that I think Saturday night services are a great idea for churches to consider. Both Jen and I have said that if I wasn't a pastor we would try to find a church with a Sat night service so that we could have Sunday free. I don't think we're alone in this.)

Once the semi-lazy morning was mostly complete (hey, we still have a newborn), I thought it would be a great idea to get the older kids out of the house for a few hours to give Mommy and Wes a little extra sleep time.

So we went to the Natural History Museum.

I haven't been to this place in years--it's fantastic! Miah and Riley seem to be about the perfect ages for it right now, too. Young enough that they are still excited to see displays of animals that have been stuffed, but old enough to be interested in spending more than just a few seconds at each display.

We had a really great time. I'd say this is one of the better deals around too. $9 for an adult and $2 each for kids. (Though it is $8 for parking. Still...) We got there about 10:00am, saw most of the museum in 2.5 hours, without hurrying, and were home by 1:00pm for a late lunch. And the wife and Triple Dub were happy as clams. 

So if you're looking for a good excursion with or without kids you could do a lot worse than the Natural History Museum. Tell your pastor you want a Saturday night service so you can go on a Sunday morning without the crowds--and the guilt!

(The pic above features Jeremiah and Riley with a Spanish cannon. Riley has one arm in the cannon [perhaps she will in fact be a veterinarian some day] and Miah said he was trying to give a look of fear, anticipating the cannon blast. I think it's more of an expression that says the cannon has just rolled onto my foot and, yes indeed, it is as heavy as it looks.)