Spring Break 2011: Fernbank

It's been spring break here in Atlanta.  We had great plans to do nothing, and for the most part, that's what we did!

The weather cooperated and the boys played outside most of the time early in the week. But by Wednesday it was clear we needed something to do! So on Thursday, I packed the kids up and we ventured into the heart of Atlanta and explored Fernbank Museum of Natural History.

Boys outside the museum

Fernbank was amazing!  There was so much to do. So, we did what everyone does when they get to an amazing museum, filled with lots of fun things to do and see, we hit the vending machines because the boys were STARVING! Well, it did take us 30 minutes to get there, so they hadn't eaten in that long!

Yum, honey buns!

While the boys ate their Honey Buns, we looked admired the display in the Great Hall.  There were all sorts of casts of dinosaurs. Including the world's only fully mounted Argentinosaurus, the largest dinosaur ever classified (you can see part of the tail in the picture).  The picture here is of Giganotosaurus. And above us there were all sorts of casts of flying reptiles. It was very cool!

Giganotosaurus

We spent most of our time in the Mythical Creatures special exhibit.  Very cool! The exhibit explored the myths behind air, sea and land mythical creatures. Most of the pictures we have are from this exhibit.  At one point, Sam grabbed the camera and took most of the pictures.  See if you can spot his "favorite" picture.

 And what display about mythical creatures would be complete with out Pokemon! Josh was very excited to see this sign.

Pokemon!!

 After the Mythical Creatures we had lunch -- of course because they never stop eating!  We had tickets to see the IMAX show at Noon, "Tornado Alley." It was very interesting, Josh really liked it, Sam was bored after about 20 minutes and wanted to leave.  We should have gone to see "Animalopolis" but I didn't realize that was playing until after we got the tickets! Oh well, save something for another day!

By the time the IMAX was done, the museum was starting to get crowded! We did venture to a few more exhibits. There was a really cool exhibit called "Sensing Nature." We spent quite a bit of time there.

Josh - Giant Bubbles

Sam - Giant Bubbles

 There were lots of hands on exhibits that the kids could play with.  I think here, Sam is just admiring himself in the multiple mirrors...  He was talking to himself. It was rather funny!

I'm so cute!

 The exhibit that was donated by The Weather Channel had the kids trying out their meteorologist skills by standing against a blue screen while trying to tell the weather. I'm sure they could be more accurate than most some day!

"Today's weather is...."

 By the time we got to the brand new "Nature Quest" experience the place was PACKED! It was very cool though. It was like a giant learning playground. There was a water area, a tree house, "rivers" and a fake waterfall, and so much more.  The problem was, I couldn't keep track of the boys. There were so many kids and so many places to go I couldn't keep up.  Next time we go, I think I'd hit up that area first and then work my way down through the rest of the museum!

Sam by the "coral" at NatureQuest

We had a really great time and bought a season pass. We all agreed Grandmother and Grampa would love it there and we're already planning on taking them when the come again!