Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Saturday morning Demya, Benson, Riley, Emmaline, and I went to the Natural History Museum. We got in FREE using coupons for Museum Day which is sponsored by the Smithsonian. It was a lot of fun! I was impressed with the little museum... I'd never been there before, and I've lived in Vegas since 1989! I feel like I say that often these days... I just never had any reason to go. Riley and Emmaline LOVE to go places and explore things, so it makes it fun to find something new to do. The museum is small, which was just fine. It was great for a 1/2 day outing. I told Riley as I was getting him out of the car seat, that there were two rules today: 1.) NO RUNNING OFF! (He's developed a habit of running off on me. I turn my back for just a moment and he's GONE!) 2.) He had to pick a buddy, and was to stick to his buddy like glue! He was so cute! Riley thought for a moment, and then declared: "My Mya!" with a shy smile. This all seemed to work. Riley stuck to Mya, and there were no tradies... He wouldn't let Benson take him around at all. The only time I got to take him anywhere was to the bathroom. Demya claims rights of pregnant aunt on that account! The first room we went into was the wild life gallery. I was sure that Riley would get freaked out by all the dead animals. But he didn't! Neither did Emmaline. They were so excited to get to see the animals up close. I believe the two favorite rooms were the marine life and the dinosaurs. Emmaline LOVES fish. There is an open tank in the middle of the marine life gallery. I believe she would have been happy to stay there for most of the trip. Unfortunately, I had to change her diaper. So, after taking Riley to the bathroom, I took her away from the tank. Bad idea. She throw a fit, crying and screeching! Then she was all smiles when I brought her back again!I love seeing my kids enjoying time together! Riley and Emmaline really like each other. They enjoy exploring together... they were checking out a Maine lobster. Pretty cool! Riley and Emmaline were amazed by the dinosaurs. This has kind of the point of the trip. This week we are studying about dinosaurs, and Riley had never seen one before! Emma's mouth hung open like this through most of the dinosaur gallery... Riley like being able to push the button and make T-Rex roar There is a down stairs which holds the African room. Riley enjoyed looking at the animals. He liked seeing the hippos, but he wanted to know where the alligators were. I believe however, for Riley this picture below was the most memorable. He was VERY concerned about the zebra. He told us that if he was a lion, he would save the zebra. He's talked about all weekend. He even told Papa about how he wanted to save the zebra. Downstairs they have a small snack area. this was such a blessing... Riley was complaining about being thirsty, and Emma was starting to squawk... They both REALLY enjoyed their drink and were ready to explore the last 2 rooms. The last room was the interactive room. You could and were encouraged to touch and play with EVERYTHING! Riley and Emma loved the fish tank that you could get in the middle of. Have I mentioned Emma loves fish? We were even there for one of the critter connection. We got to touch a boa constrictor. Emma was so cute. The curator told the kids to hold up their finger if they wanted to touch the snake. Emma held her little finger up way high! Riley wasn't as sure, but warmed up to the idea. By this time, it was past lunch time and everyone was getting tired. So, we walked out to the van and got our lunch. We walked over to the park (it shares the museum's parking) and ate our lunch. Emma didn't make it! It was a fun outing! Thanks a bunch to Mya and Benson for coming along on my crazy little trip... Your extra hands were such a blessing. Could I have done it on my own? Probably, but I would have been MUCH more stressed out, and wouldn't have had as much fun!