A field trip with mommy

Today Erik is feeling better and has been asking since yesterday where we are going, Carl and I decided a divide a conquer approach would be best. Both sick boys, Carl and Elliot, would stay home, and I would take Erik on a field trip.

Ever since Erik went to the La Brea Tar Pits with Carl and Elliot last October he has been asking to go back or go and see the dinosaurs. Well a couple weeks ago my friend Christine went to the Natural History Museum and raved about how it would be a great place to take the boys. I mentioned it in front of Erik as the dinosaur museum and he has been begging to go for a week now. So that is where we went, without a stroller, just me and my oldest.

Today was a bit liberating. It is very rare that I spend a whole morning with just one child. It is a freedom and reminds me of the simpler days of just one child. Controlling one three year old it much easier than controlling a toddler and preschooler. Today was like a break even though I was just with Erik. It was also liberating because this is the first time we really went somewhere without a stroller, he just didn't need it. Let me tell you how nice it was to have that freedom today and go up and down any stairs we pleased without having to search for an elevator.

So we headed inside the museum and Erik can barely contain his excitement, the first thing he see is dinosaur bones!

I didn't really know or remember what a natural history museum contained. Apparently there are a lot of displays of stuffed animals with long explanations of the natural world. It amused Erik for a couple rooms, but the last room upstairs just scared him.

They did have a room dedicated to the electric train cars in Los Angeles. Carl probably would have loved reading everything. We just glanced at the buggy, a few cars and left. This period of transportation is not interesting to Erik, yet.

The best room was the discovery room where the little ones are able to touch. This room was a bit of a challenge for me. Erik is really into asking questions and understanding. He kept asking me what animals the bones belong too and how they fit together. Nothing was marked well so I was completely baffled and didn't have the answers for my 3-year-old so we just discovered together.

 

 

Then we looked all over for the dinosaur bones which is really what Erik wanted to see in the first place. They were no where in sight and the signs were terrible. (I should have just looked at my map, duh!) Finally I figured out it had to be through the whale bone room. See Erik took one peek in the whale bone room, heard the whale sounds and freaked out so we headed out immediately. When I told him the dinosaur bones were on the other side, we quickly raced through the room while Erik told me repeatedly that he didn't like it or the noise, and sure enough through the room, was the magic land of dinosaur bones.

I really liked the skylight.

Our entire experience was fantastic. We got there at 10 am, 30 minutes after they opened and were done in an hour working at preschooler pace. Obviously we read very little and just looked and talked about everything, but as we were walking out everyone was walking in so we missed the mad rush. I would definitely take the kids here again, although not too many times in a year.

When we got outside we look a little break. We were going to meet Uncle Glenn and Aunt Annie for lunch and had a few minutes to kill. Since it was pretty behind Erik and the light was bouncing up so nicely on his face I thought some head shots would be fun. So I got my gorgeous, natural Erik smiling pictures and then we had some fun with the camera.

 

My favorite, he is looking for the ladybug on my head.

Although the more I look at this, I really like the teeth!

Here are the many faces of Erik as performed by Erik.

Silly

Scared 

Happy

Sad

Angry

Daydreamer (mommy's description)

How can any day be bad when it ends with a big slice of pizza like this! Oh and Erik did not eat the whole thing, only half which is still impressive.