A Museum Playdate

This summer, we've been having regular playdates on Tuesday mornings with Emily's classmates from last year, some of whom will be in her class next year as well. Today, instead of meeting at the playground near school like we usually do, we met her friend Ashley and her mom at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Ashley and her mom have a membership, so they've spent a lot of time there, and Ashley was so excited to show it all to Emily and Kate, starting with the dinosaurs.




Later, we checked out the butterfly exhibit, and the girls watched in awe as the butterflies flew all around us, but it was Kate who was most amazed at the butterflies sitting close enough to touch (even though touching wasn't actually allowed, unless a butterfly landed on you, which is considered a sign of good luck).




The girls also really enjoyed panning for shark teeth using "tools" that looked incredibly similar to a beach toy of ours.




Later, they dug for dinosaur fossils, but since the fossils were already uncovered, the reward wasn't as exciting as finding shark teeth. I think the girls actually enjoyed their goggles more than any digging!



There were so many neat things to do and see while we were there, but for me the best part was seeing how much fun the girls had together.




After what seemed like too short a time, Ashley and her mom needed to go home, but Emmy insisted on going back to check out the miniature golf course right near the butterfly exhibit. It was her first attempt at golf, and let's just say she could use a few lessons from Uncle Steve. But, hey, she and Kate had fun, and that's all that really matters!