More About the Museum

After lunch, we headed back inside the museum and decided to check out the Amazing Backyard Adventures special exhibition. It is a hand-on exhibition, designed for children aged 8-12 years to explore the science of the natural world just outside their doors. As three out of the four kids with us fell in the 8-12 age range, we decided it was just the thing, but although they enjoyed it, my kids Josh (9) and Alana (11) found it a little young for them. Surprisingly, the favourite part for all four kids were the dress-ups, with cute outfits for little frogs, spiders, beetles, snails, and other creepy-crawlies that you might find in your backyard. All the kids (even Josh) enjoyed dressing up!

Next we headed to "Search and Discover", a behind-the-scenes look at the work of the museum. I'm pretty sure that this section was the absolute favourite for my budding scientist Joshua. There were plenty of drawers full of insect specimans, stuffed animals everywhere, lots of skulls and microscopes to study specimans for yourself. Josh loved the fact that everything was touchable! He's not a fan of look-but-don't-touch! He loves to investigate by picking things up, feeling their textures, looking them over and seeing "what they do" or "how they work". Unfortunately we eventually had to pry him away; the skulls and taxidermied animals were giving Emelia the "freakies", especially when he helpfully showed her how the lower jaw on a human skull could open and close!

Next we checked out "Planet of Minerals", with plenty of sparkly and shiny crystals and rocks of all types. Once again, the best bit (especially for Josh), was the touch table (no surprise), allowing the kids to touch, feel and examine special pieces from the collection at close range.

My sis-in-law Michelle decided it was time for her and the girls to head home, but the rest of us decided that we had time to look over the skeletons.

We decided that it was just as well that Emelia wasn't there, as she would probably find the skeletons too freaky, but the rest of us enjoyed comparing the structures of the skeletons of different types of animals. in particular, we found it fascinating to see how a turtle's spine is connected to its upper shell, while its leg bones are connected to the lower shell!

And that's our visit to the museum. A great day was had by all :)

A Visit to the Australian Museum

The Australian Museum is a natural history museum in Sydney. Click here to link to the museum's website. Today my kids and I visited the museum with my parents, my sister-in-law, and her two children. It was a wonderful day out.

We began in the Indigenous Australians exhibition, which features artifacts representing the cultures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Next we looked through the Wildlife Photographer of the Year special exhibition. There were over 43 000 entries to this competition from all over the world. The kids were particularly impressed with the entries in the Under 10's, 11-14 years and 15-17 years categories.

Before taking a break for lunch, we decided that we had time for one more exhibit, so headed to the dinosaurs. Josh loved this area, but my niece Emelia wasn't so sure, thinking that it was a bit "freaky".

We decided to get some fresh air and have a picnic lunch in Hyde Park. The weather was finally good today (about time), so we sat in the shade of a tree near the statue of Captain Cook.

More later about what we did after lunch...

Any Day a Book Arrives in the Post is a Good Day!

When the Australia Post parcel delivery van pulled up in front of my house this morning, I knew it was going to be a good day! Sure enough, my friendly parcel delivery man (it's always the same guy - I think of him as a friend now!) brought me Sense and Sensability and Sea Monsters, my win from the lovely Ashley at Ashley's Library. Hooray!

Here is a picture of me looking very pleased with my win! Thanks, Ashley!

Letting Myself Off the Hook

I've decided to let myself off the hook, and not force myself to write a review for every single book that I read. After all, it's the Christmas holidays, so I should be relaxing and enjoying myself, and my blog is supposed to be fun, so it shouldn't feel like hard work.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.

Received as a Christmas present from my sister-in-law Cassie.

***** "Lives up to the hype."

Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich.

Borrowed from my local public library.

***** "So much fun!"

Quirkology: How We Discover the Big Truths in Small Things by Richard Wiseman.

Borrowed from my local public library.

*** "Readable, but not enough science in it for me. Too fluffy."

So that's what I've been reading. How about you?

Sweeping out the Old

It's New Year's Day, and I'm taking the advice of a dear blogging friend of mine, Witch Baby, and I'm sweeping the old out of my life to make room for the new! I'm not a witch myself, so I'm not following all of the ritual itself, I'm just taking from it what I can that is meaningful to me. That means I am doing some house-cleaning as a way of physically demonstrating my commitment to making space in my life for new things this year.

I'm making space in my mental landscape for new thoughts.

I'm making space in my emotional landscape for more joy.

I'm making space in my lifestyle for new friends and new experiences.

I'm making space in my house for beautiful and meaningful possessions only.

I'm looking forward to welcoming a new job this year - something in a library.

I'm expecting my relationship with Chris to deepen and strengthen this year.

I'm shedding some weight to make space for my body to work at its optimum performance.

I'm opening up to spiritual growth.

I'm excited to see what wonderful things my children will experience this year.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year, and I hope that you also are able to make room for new blessings.