Natural History Museum with Shelby's Girl Scouts Troop

 Thanks to a bunch of really wonderful moms, who happen to be my fun friends, Shelby is in a fantastic co-op Girl Scouts troop that she loves.  She is learning so much along side these sweet buddies of hers.  There are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders who are all smart, and funny and spunky.

 One of the Moms, Rachel, planned an educational scavenger hunt at the Natural History museum, that is just up the street from us.  I feel like we have been there a thousand times, but we can not get enough of this place.  There are SO many interactive activities for kids (and adults).

 The kids had scavenger hunt questions about dinosaurs and cells, and rocks and erosion that they got to answer through out the museum.  Everywhere they looked there was something cool to explore and learn about.

 On this wall the kids got to imprint their hands and then see it on a big screen.  And who doesn't want to see their big giant hand and feel like a total celeb?

 This was my favorite part.  The girls had found a little pond with some living, swimming pre-historic looking things in it.  They had each picked "theirs, named it, and created a total story about them.  

 This is what they look like:

 This may have been Shelby's.  There was "Teeny" and "Spinnie" and lots of other loved little guys.

 There are areas where you can guess what things like pine needles and specific flowers smell like, and then push a button to smell the real thing.  Some are sweet or yummy.  Others are kind of stinky.

 This was a mold of an animal cell.  When the girls put all the pieces together like a puzzle, then it lights up.  They can compare it to the plant cell model too.  

 The mother who led this outing is a pediatrician and she talked to the girls about how cell biology was her favorite class.  Another mother, who leads the state's science department for education agreed.  Oh how I wish that I could have been in to cell biology in college instead of Dating 101.  Ah well, live and learn. 

 Here's the plant cell puzzle:

The displays of rocks, fossils, crystals, and animals were massive and colorful and artistic.  This place feels every bit as much an art museum as it is a science museum.  Here Shelby and her friend stand in front of the "bling" wall.  They picked which sparkly rocks and crystals were their fave's:

I love getting to learn right along side Shelby.  I love her thoughtful questions.  I love her open mind.  I love her friends and their fun personalities.  I love these mothers.  I am drinking this in.