We followed Kelly and Steve to Cartersville, GA (about an hour away) to visit the Tellus Science Museum. Steve was especially excited about this and we were excited to have him with us for the day!
We arrived a little bit before it opened, not knowing what traffic would be like on the roads or at the museum. We were in good shape in both respects. Kelly and Steve came prepared with fruit and cookies for a snack when we got there. That was also when the Aunt and Uncle extraordinaire pair presented each of our kids with $20 to spend in the gift shop when we were done. So incredibly generous of them!! The kids were excited! The parents were excited for the kids :) Apparently, Kelly had told this "secret" to Calvin a day before and swore him to secrecy or it wouldn't happen. Amazingly enough...he kept the secret!!
Then we took a little walk around the grounds. There were three or four gigantic trucks spread out along the edge of the parking lot. They were quite the sight to behold!
Across from the parking lot, we walked along the grounds, closer to the museum. Very pretty!
Once inside the entrance of the museum, we spent some time watching this big thing!
Here's an explanation straight from the museum wall that will do a far better job than anything I could say! There was something hypnotic about watching the pendulum and waiting to see if it would knock one of the blocks over the next time it swung by. :)
There was also a planetarium where you could purchase additional tickets to one of the presentations for an extra fee. Steve was gracious enough to get those for us. There was about an hour or so until the planetarium show started, so the first stop was, where else? The dinosaur bones!!
This Apatosaurus is sooo big, I couldn't get the whole thing in the camera frame.
But first, we had to stop and see how pennies roll down this funnel.
Behold--the Megalodon Jaw!
And tooth!
A dinosaur patty! Only a quarter of the normal size!!
We went to the planetarium show titled "The Night Sky" after we visited the dinosaur section. About 5 or 7 minutes into it, however, JJ decided he had had enough of that, so he and I exited the room (with no return) so he wouldn't be so disruptive to the other guests.
The space stuff was totally awesome!
Brought back to Earth by astronaut Dave Scott from Apollo 15.
Astronaut JJ
Astronaut Calvin
Astronaut Karcyn
I will be the first to admit, we did lose track of all of our kids at one point or another during our trip to the museum. Herding cats comes to mind. Jared took some pictures of JJ so he'd stay in one spot! :)
Standing in front of a 7 foot by 5 foot amethyst geode. One of the largest in the world!
And now...for the digging!! Our kids could have stayed here for.ev.er. Did you know that the tool of choice for paleontologists is a paint brush, not a trowel, when digging for fossils? Everyone got to go home with a sand shark tooth!
But there was even more (wet) fun to be had in the panning area! We got to keep as many as we found!
Fossils of sand shark teeth and the gemstones that Karcyn, JJ and Calvin found (left to right). Calvin found the most gemstones. He was completely addicted!
We headed to the children's play area before wrapping it up at the gift shop and eating our picnic lunch under the pavilion.
Sisters!
The Beynons and Houghs. A monumental family history moment for sure. I love.love.love this picture!!
We decided to stop by Bass Pro Shop on our way back to the condo.
Ahhh, the party boat!! Dream on, everyone!
JJ and Cooper trying to shoot ducks with their suction cup arrows!
Dream on, JJ!
Jake had his eye on a compound bow :)
Back at the condo, Karcyn and Calvin began the very delicate operation of excavating a baby dinosaur from it's "egg." Woo doggie! It was super duper messy (red dust ev.er.y.where) but I loved that they were working on this together!
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