January: Perot Museum of Nature and Science

The problem with slacking on updating the blog is that I forget when we did things. I think sometime in January, we took advantage of our Perot membership and went for a visit.  This is a brand-new museum that opened near downtown Dallas and it has it all- dinos, birds, sports science, everything!  The girls have been before with DMP, but this was the first visit for Eli and me.  (we also went again when Aunt Cyndi visited, but I didn't take my camera...).  Above, the girls are posing in front of cross-sections of the inside of a Giraffe.  There was an Animal inside-out special exhibit while we were there, but it cost too much for us to go :(

This guy was just a little bit excited to see the dinosaurs :)  We learned a lot about the dinosaurs and critters that are native to TX.  Very cool, since I'm really only familiar with Utah.

The museum is perfect for kids- there are tons of interactive things to do.  Eli is playing with the "bird" game. You stand in a certain spot, put your arms out like wings and you can control an eagle flying on a screen in front of you.  They also have a sports science section where you can "race" a T-Rex, Olympic athlete, or cheetah.  You stand at a start line and run against the person/animal on a screen next to you and it tells you how fast you go. Pretty fun!

This is one of the benches with a "fun" fact.  Birdy and I feel about the same about this one (the red stripe next to her has 430 tiny white bugs on it).

My favorite part was the mineral and gem hall. They had TONS of beautiful displays with rocks like the one above.  They also have a giant Geode that is as tall as me!

There is a (boring) section all about drilling for oil (big surprise in TX).  Our favorite is the interactive "ride" about fracking.  It is pretty good propaganda.  There was a lot of boring talk on the ride, but they kept making sure we understood that it is "safe and good".  It is a fun ride anyway! (BTW- I don't know enough to have opinions on Hydraulic Fracturing- other than that it is "safe and good"- I just enjoy blatant propaganda in a museum paid for by a Fracking company).

This is another really awesome interactive thing- those are wooden blocks that flip around to a darker side when you move- it makes a sort of pixelated shadow of wooden blocks that moves like you (you can see how EJ has her arm up and it is reflected in the boxes?)

One of the coolest features of this museum is their two super-tall esclators. As you can see, they are by big windows and you can see down and out over downtown Dallas. It is scary and fun all at once!

Plus the view from the top is super cool!

After we toured the museum, we went to the children's museum at the bottom floor. It is designed for little kids- EJ could only go in because she was with her siblings.  As for the picture above- it's my "crazy armadillo lady" picture. 

They have a cool water table, mini Dallas skyline to climb and slide on, and Bear's favorite- the farmer's market!  He LOVES to play shopping at home.  They have little picture lists with different veggies and quantities of each. He played there for over an hour.  He would fill his basket, take it to the Sissies who were kindly playing "Checker" and then they would dump it on the "truck" to be re-sorted into the bins.

Crow Aisan Art Collection & Nasher Sculpture Garden

When we found out we were moving to the Dallas area, we were really excited to be going to such a large urban area so we could take advantage of all the cultural offerings.  Here we are, over a year later and we haven't done much (except the zoo and a couple of museums when Grandma and Grandpa K were here).  So our family new year resolution is to take advantage of the great things to do that are close.  DMP found a great list of free or under-$5 things to do in the DFW area and we are planning on spending lots of Saturdays exploring this year!  Who knows, we may convince someone to visit us...

We picked the Crow Collection of Asian Art.  It was really neat- I loved this little Japanese garden- someday when I have time (or I'm rich) I want one. 

Every one's favorite were the jade and other carvings. Such beautiful, itty bitty detail. There was a really cool quote by an ancient Chinese philosopher who compared Jade to aspects of character and spirituality. The jade displays were divided up into those aspects. It was fun to talk to the girls about each piece and if they thought it matched up with them.  This piece above is made of ivory. Each of those chain links had to be carved individually, and also the little monkeys hanging from them. Amazing! 

This is a walkway between sections of the museum. It has 3,000 origami cranes. Really neat.

More carvings. Can you see the one with a scene carved on the bird's bill (bottom center).  We also learned that jade can only be carved by abrasion- you can't use cutting tools. That makes all the little details even that more amazing!

This is part of a front of a palace from India.  All that carved part is sandstone! It was beautiful.  Behind it were several Buddha heads. They were all similar, but had regional differences. You had to look at them and guess where in Asia they came from.  It was a bit beyond the girls, but DMP and I enjoyed talking with them about what was the same (long earlobes, hairstyle, smile, looking down) and what was different.  

This is a beautiful stone pergola from Cambodia (I think).  Each of those colored decorations is inlaid stone into the marble. It is amazing and beautiful!

We lucked out, because as we were leaving, the nice museum guy told us that the Nasher Sculpture Center across the street was free that day.  They were installing a new exhibit, so really only the sculpture garden was open, but it was great!  The day was beautiful and warm, and the kids enjoyed that they could walk around each sculpture.

Look- a Picasso! We did a self-guided tour with a brochure that told about each sculpture and what the artist was trying to portray. We could talk with the girls about that and get their thoughts.

This is a piece that was done by a woman who lived in Poland during WWII.  The people look the same, but are subtly different. It is a commentary on how you can lose yourself in the crowd and go along with what everyone else is doing.  The girls staged the photo themselves :)

I actually liked this giant fork best.  It was playful and fun.

Since we were feeling all arty, we decided to gaze at the water and contemplate life for a while :)  I think the fountain was Bear's favorite part.  The best part of all this? It was totally free! We even lucked into free parking (in downtown Dallas!).

Who knows where our Saturday Adventures will take us next?