A Friday Field Trip: Museum of Nature and Science, Nature Building.

This week, we thought we were going to the zoo, but it was very rainy, and the boys were a bit too squirmy to manage (I thought) on the DART rail. So, after refueling the trusty Jeep with gas, and driving off with the nozzle still in the tank (which, it turns out, isn't a big deal, just embarrassing), we headed to Fair Park AGAIN, this time to go the Nature Building, which the boys call "The Dinosaur Museum".

Since we were going to the "Dinosaur Museum", William thought he might need this clip-on light on his shirt pocket. **sigh**

We got there and the WHOLE LOBBY was filled with school kids on field trips. Which is probably how the zoo would have been, too.

After we got our tickets in the main lobby, we checked out a couple of the animated dinosaurs they had there.

This one also roared very loudly.

No racket out of this one, tho. My kinda pet!

We went out the back door, and down the walk. The walk goes toward the lagoon (ha ha!) and around.

We followed it around to the left and arrived at the museum of nature and science! It has a bronze woolly mammoth in front.

There were a few school tours still going on, so we checked out the nature exhibits. They have about three different kinds of bears on display.

And a wolf.

We went into the rocks and minerals room, which the boys love. This geode opens and closes and plays dramatic music. 

Huge amethyst. HUGE!!

Our favorite in here, tho, is this display of several types of rocks, in different types of light.

Here's the chart that explains which light is which. The boys are always pretty impressed with the effects.

 And, as William calls it, "The Crystal Cave", which is really a big geode.

ugg, the stinky black birds. I hate these. The hang around in flocks of 7 gazillion on power lines and trees, just sitting looking ominous and pooping on every darn thing.

And there is a big section of the running path at White Rock Lake where they congregate, and OMG!! the smell of their poop will knock you down! It's so horrible, and the area is too long to run the length of it holding your breathe. 

A neat butterfly collection. There are some on here that are VERY small.

A random herd of bison.

William loves this Texas cave exhibit.

fossils exhibit.

 another bear! Holy cow.....

 Bat game.

Info about Texas caves that got William and I excited and now want to drive down to see a cave.

After a while we figured most of the school groups had gone, so we headed upstairs to where the dinosaurs are.

There's one! It's really just skeletons, but the boys love it.

 and, they're remodeling...boo.........

Nothing but big empty rooms...

The also usually loe the electricity exhibit, but instead there was this. But, it turned out to be fun.

There were a lot of these tessellated monkey mats.

The goal here is to arrange the weights so they are even across the ship.

This was super fun.

Here's William making his drawing.

The boys thought this was cool. These shapes spun around very fast, which totally changes how they look. In fact, I took this pic while they were spinning, but used the flash.

The boys also really like the tricycles with square wheels.

more monkey tessellations.

This maze was cool, and I wanted to figure it out, but the boys were bored with it and left quickly.

There were some giants foam shapes that could be put together to form a cube using these directions.

Aldous taking a karate break.

Having fun with the big shapes!

After that, we headed outside in search of a dry spot for lunch, and found one.

See the woolly mammoth?

William took a pic of me!

On our way back we passed a couple of water lillies, two kinds.

Can you see the Texas Star in the background, right? It's so huge it sneaks into so many of my fair park pictures!

                                                                                        
Museum of Nature and Science.

Hours and Admission Prices here. we have a membership here, so we don't feel compelled to see the WHOLE museum every time we go.