Wandering Wednesday: One Teeny Tiny Part of NYC

That's right, it's the Wednesday after Labor Day and my kids STILL haven't started school. Which would be a lot more tolerable if the pool was still open. Or I had a nanny. Or I was homeschooling them and not just waiting around for our real schedule to start.

Anyway, we went to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC as one of our staycation days this week. It was really at my dad's insistence and because of his assistance (you should follow him on Twitter). In spite of morning grumpiness and my lack of preparation ( I did not write out an itinerary, or even make notations on a map printed from the web site - I have turned into some kind of slacker this summer), we had an excellent time.

We'd been in the Museum for a while at this point, I had to figure out how to read the map before I remembered to take pictures. 

Hot Guy explains something I don't understand. I probably should have listened instead of taking bad pictures. 

The earthquake map is super-cool. And a little scary. 

See that large shape in the background? It's the blue whale. It is fucking awesome, despite the photographic evidence to the contrary. 

The manatee looks very real. 

So does the polar bear. And somehow bigger than the one at the Bronx Zoo. 

Ironflower by her beloved dolphins. 

Lovebug being a dolphin. 

This is stibnite. I had never heard of it before, but now I want some. 

This doesn't really need a description, right? 

Oh yeah. I recommend having brunch and then go. I brought snacks, which you really weren't supposed to do, but they weren't enough to keep the crew happy so we broke down and went to the food court. Behold the most expensive slice of pizza in New York. 

I swear Lovebug was better about not touching things when he was 3. 

Every time I see a photo of myself I think, "Who's that bitch with my family?" And then I realize that what I think I look like and what I actually look like do not match. 

So cool. 

Hugmonkey was starting to get done with things by this point. 

I promise I'll fix the eyes before I print this picture. 

This room reminded Ironflower that she used to LOVE dinosaurs. Both big kids had imaginary Allosaurus friends and Ironflower also had Tina Triceratops.