Lots of butterflies

A butterfly landed close by, looking at the frogs, read the sign and then look at the picture of the actual butterfly. It's a pretty good disgise.

Butterflies

They have a permanant butterfly display there-kept at very humid very hot temperatures. You pay $2.00 extra per person to get in. You have to watch where you step and they will occasionally land on someone. When you leave the exhibit you have to check to make sure you aren't taking any with you.

It was quite beautiful in there though. The one picture shows some frogs also, they blend in well.

exploring the museum

Walking like a dinosaur and posing at the dig.

More pictures

Digging for Bones

I chose this museum because it has a children's dig. They hand you a chisel and brush and a pair of goggles and let you loose! It wasn't what I expected though-no dirt to dig through, just carefully chisseling hard stone. You can't bang the chissel, only scrape or twist it. I went back and asked if there was actually anything in there. They said there are three actual fossils in there but you aren't going to find them. It's mainly just sand and wax in there. They replace the material every three months or so.

You can see Justin happily bringing us a handful of tiny "bone fragments."

Dinosaur Bones!

Touching a real fossil-Justin became completely shy when the woman came over and offered to answer questions and showed us some fossils that were in their lab. Here you can see Tom had to move Justin's arm for him so he would touch the fossil. She told us that the bones there were real, although most are supplemented with casts and molds. Either all the bones aren't found or else they erode or are ruined other ways.

Academy of Natural Sciences

Our family vacation this year was a trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly on Saturday and then Sunday into Monday we went camping.

There are two pictures of us "with dinosaurs" You stand somewhere and it projects your image onto a screen with a dinosaur scene playing. It was hard to capture with the camera though.

The Academy of Natural Sciences is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the United States. It was founded in 1812 by many of the leading naturalists of the young republic with its expressed mission of "the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences." For over nearly two centuries of continuous operations, the Academy has sponsored expeditions, conducted original environmental and systematics research, and amassed natural history collections containing more than 17 million specimens. The Academy also has a long tradition of public exhibits and educational programs for both schools and the general public.