Day 1 of February Vacation---

Today was Presidents Day and the first day of February Vacation. The weather was warm (high fifties) but rainy, so we met our friends the Armistead’s and Gull’s at the Children's Museum in West Hartford. It was fun—the kids always enjoy the museum especially with friends! Anneli always loves the UTC Wildlife Sanctuary and the animal demos. She hasn't stopped talking about touching the Chinchilla. Christopher was looking forward to the new exhibit, "Excavation Station". The kids had a ton of fun in there! You walk through a cavern into the exhibit hall or should I say geology camp complete with field tent, Jeep and seventeen-foot long juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex with long, pointy teeth, claws and scaly skin! Here you can explore dinosaurs, fossils and rocks! The kids enjoyed sifting through gravel and sand for semi-precious stones in the museums sluice. As you sift, the sand goes away and leaves the gems behind. Christopher enjoyed this--he loves mining and brought home a few rocks for his collection! Next they enjoyed dressing like archeologists and digging for dinosaur bones. It was fun to watch all the kids as they wore their vests, eye goggles and working hard with their brushes and other excavation tools to unearth the fossils. It was a great start to our vacation! Hopefully the rest of the week is as fun! :)

The crew hard at work!

Anneli digging for bones!

Thomas (Ana's friend) putting Safety Goggles on Christopher!

Archeologist Chris ready for exploring!

What did you find??

Watch out behind you!!!!

Still digging!!

Mining for gems!

My friend Jemima, sifting for gems with Christopher and her little boy Thomas playing with the water pump! How does that thing work!

Anneli building with LEGOS!

Christopher's LEGO Race Car--definately a MUST at the museum!

Chris, Thomas and Anneli having a blast with the balls in the Idea Zone!