Night at the Museum

It was a fun night. I took the girls to a sleep-over with the Girl Scouts at Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. Good thing it was indoors, since the weather was awful. The boys’ camp-out at a neighbor’s home was canceled, because it was so bad.
It was supposed to be me and Jo, but one of the other girl scouts got sick and couldn’t come. I got a call from the troop leader asking if Jane wanted to come. She did! Jo was a little jealous, but I explained that this was not a one-time thing, but the beginning of the two of them doing Girl Scouts together. Really, she was more upset that her friend was not going than that her sister was.
I highly recommend going to these with your kids! The museum has some great exhibits and awesome dinosaur displays. We went on a guided tour of the museum. One of the paleontologists’ talked with them for a while. Then they tried to dig a dinosaur out of a cup of plaster with a nail. It was harder than the girls could stand. They lost patience with it and began banging the ‘fossil’ on the floor! I think this was the only thing the girls got in trouble for this trip! They played in an Erosion Table (sand and water). They made a paper dinosaur using origami. The scavenger hunt was fast and furious. Then, mercifully, it was time for bed. Jo picked the spot, after careful consideration of where the scary dinosaurs were. Most of her friends were on the other side of the hallway, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to be near the T-Rex! Even where we were, it took some doing to keep her calm and get her to sleep. Jane was exhausted and was out quickly, but was totally glued to me the entire night. Thank goodness for the air mattress. It was a real lifesaver. Morning didn’t come quickly enough!
They did a quick rotation of stations: scratching their names in Egyptian hieroglyphics into stone; chatting with the lead paleontologist; making a plaster ‘fossil’; and putting together a T-Rex puzzle.
I had considered staying longer and walking around the farm or gardens, which we have never been to, but the day was rainy and cold, so we came home as soon as the Sleep-over was over. We’ll be going back again sometime this summer.