And we're off to....: Air and Space

Showing posts with label Air and Space. Show all posts

Monday, February 21, 2011

National Museum of the American Indian

My husband and I have been making a list of stuff we want to do in the D.C. area before we move (that is if we move, we'll be here for sure until May 2012 but after that who knows). It seams like we keep on doing the same things over and over again and it's not that they aren't great things it's just there is so much to see and do we might as well see it all. The first thing we did on our To Do List was the National Museum of the American Indian. I must say I was quite surprised how interesting and kid friendly this museum was. Both my husband and I thought the museum was about US American Indians but were were pleasantly surprised to find out it was about Native Peoples of the Americans not just the United States.

All of the exhibits were really well done. The 3 main permanent exhibits are: Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World, Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories, and Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities are all very interesting and give insights into Native life. The best part of these exhibits is that the museum recruited curators from the different tribes and bands so the depictions of these People are told from their own perspective.

There were lots of hands on activities and movies for Tavish to play with so I'm sure he enjoyed himself. Callen slept though most of exhibits so I'm not sure he got much out of it. One of the highlights of the museum is its fantastic restaurant. Unlike the American History Museum which has terrible food and the Air and Space Museum which has McDonalds, the American Indian Museum has themed food. The food court is split into different areas each which showcases traditional Native foods (there are hamburgers and chicken fingers for the picky eaters). Even if your not planning on checking out the museum, it's a great place for lunch if you are in the area.

In the world of D.C. museums this is a great one to go see if you have time or are very interested in Native People. I would recommend the American History (but not for lunch), Natural History, and Air and Space Museums over this one. But if you have the time I'd would check it out, especially if they have an interesting live demonstration on, which they usually do (we missed out on the chocolate festival they were having a few weeks ago and I 'm kinda sad about that).

"Cheese"

Kyle with his hands full, admiring a snow machine

Tavish taking a boat for a ride

Tavish love the Rainbow

Statue of an American Indian

Tavish having fun walking on the wall outside the musuem

Now time to rock climb (that's my boy)

Callen not too sure about what his brother is doing

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Air and Space yet again.

Can you tell that the Air and Space Museum in Dulles is one of our favorite museums? This was Callen's fourth trip and at the time he was not even three months old. As always we had a great trip, we took in an IMAX - Legends of Flight and my dad and I even rode on the spinning simulator (lots of fun aside from the fact my glasses fell off and it took about 20 minutes to find them). For the most part though the museum has not really changed much in the other 3+ times that we had gone (read here) but I did get a tip from another mom blog about how to take better pictures in this giant museum. I alway use my flash (I'm a very beginner photographer) and for the most part did not know any better so when I read on the Snot, Tots, and Espresso Shots blog that the flash washed out the pictures, I decided on this trip to go flashless and these were my results:

We enjoyed the IMAX (which was a great place to feed Callen)

Tavish loves the little computers

Callen just hanging out

McDonalds came though with a great toy

And in my opinion photos much better than my last trip.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

National Archives

Every time I go into D.C. I find myself in the movies. D.C. is the backdrop to so many movies and T.V. show your almost guaranteed to find yourself on the set of a movie you know. Our second stop of the D.C. day with my parents took us to the set of National Treasure. Okay not really but we were in the National Archives which is featured in the show. Even if you have never seen the movie I'm sure most people know that the Declaration of Independence is on display in the Archives, making it a popular D.C. stop.

Having previously been to the Archives and having Callen in the stroller (getting up to see the Declaration of Independence there are 3 or so stares making it not very stroller friendly), I viewed the Maga Carta while my parents at the Declaration and Other documents. The Maga Carta is a facinating peace of history in which the Declaration is based on (I think, I'm a biologist not a history major). In addition to the Declaration and Maga Carta there is also a gallery which has an exhibit on Discovering the Civil War: Consequences. This exhibit does a good job of showing how the Archives are used to find new information on the Civil War. It was very educational but not that stimulating (if that makes sense).

While the National Archives are interesting and have lots of cool historical documents this is not the most toddler/baby friendly stop in D.C. Unless you are a history buff or are kidless then I'd skip the Archives and head to the American History, Natural History, or Air and Space Museums as they are much more fun for little kids.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Without Daddy - Day 4 (Air and Space - Again)

Today we finally managed to get out of the house and we heading for the Air and Space Museum. While Callen is only 2 months old it was his third trip to see the planes. Even though both my boys have been to this museum a few time I still think they really enjoy it, well at least Tavish does Callen is a bit young to care. However, watching someone see all the planes for the first time is quite an experience, Owen was in awe of all the planes and really liked the space shuttle. Both boys were really well behaved for the most part, they enjoyed a fun ride on the simulator and lunch at "Old McDonlads" is always a highlight. I do think the highlight of the trip was our trip to the tower where we got to watch the planes land. It was really funny listening to Owen yell, " another plane mom, another plane". Despite the few minor squabbles about the use of the little computers, all and all it was a very very good trip.

After the Air and Space museum it was time for naps. Callen was not really into napping but it gave us the perfect opportunity to snap a few pictures of him while Tavish and Owen slept. The rest of the day was pretty low key which is good as we are going to be pretty busy for the next few days.