HOWEVER, last week we took the kids to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. It was really a fabulous day out, and the first time we've escaped as a family in a long time. The week before, we had planned on going. Dave had made eggs for breakfast, with lots of cheese on top, and put it out for the kids to eat while we hurriedly got everyone ready. And he asked Isaac to take one bite.
Needless to say, we learned our lesson the second time and didn't put him eating ANYTHING as a stipulation on family activities or rewards that we really, really, really want to enjoy with him from that moment on. After two hours of determined non-compliance, we canceled our trip to Los Angeles. Or rather postponed it a week.
The kids LOVED it! There was some confusion over all the animals that weren't moving (I still don't think they got it, thankfully). But they were in heaven time and time again as they looked at, sat in front of, tried to play with, and otherwise were just really excited about the day. At one point, Isaac walked over to a bench, pulled it up to an exhibit, and just sat and studied it. I went over and asked if I could sit by him and he said, "Sure, Mom," and then turned his attention right back to the beavers, as if I wasn't even there and he was watching the most interesting thing in the world. So I started to talk to him about how amazing the beavers were and how they used their teeth and tails to build the dams. That was just one of many such moments, and all in all it was just a perfect day! My kids LOVE animals! They are fascinated by them and ask so many grown-up questions it leaves me needing to know more just to keep up (like the argument that went on for I don't know how long about whether the Killer Whale is a Killer Whale or an Orca -- and Abby would NOT let up on the fact that it is an ORCA and NOT a Killer Whale "Right, Mom?" I tried to say it was both, but that was not acceptable -- it just HAD to be one or the other, and it WAS an Orca!)
Brianna fell in love with this little turtle statue the kids could sit on. She kept taking my hand and leading me back to it over and over again. And when I was distracted by the kids and couldn't find Brianna anywhere -- I looked at the turtle and there she was, grinning proudly and waving at me! We left the room it was in, but 30 minutes later when she saw we were nearing it again, she started crying again and pointing and pulling my hand back to the room where the turtle was! It's the small things, right?
The other high point of that trip was the dinosaur show we had gone down there to see in the first place. Two recordable moments happened during that show:
After about five minutes, Abby looked at me and said, with a VERY furrowed brow and confused expression, "Mom - um I think that's actually NOT a dinosaur!" At almost the same moment, a terrified Isaac, who had been asking to leave from the moment we told him the dinosaurs were coming and literally cried in fright when the baby t-rex entered the stage, looked at Dave with an almost angry expression and said, "Dad! That's not a dinosaur! That's just a PEOPLE!"
A few minutes later, Abby asked me if she could PLEASE go and pet the baby dinosaur. I told her that we had to sit where we were, we couldn't go and touch him. Then the lady asked for a volunteer and picked an older girl in the front row. Abby's eyes were literally dancing in anticipation as she watched the girl stand up to pet the baby T-Rex. Then the host said to the volunteer, "Oh, I think he likes you!" Abby turned to me, the biggest smile on her face, and said, "Mom, I think he would really like me, too!" I smiled and said, "You're probably right, Ab!" She got really serious and turned my face to her and said, "No, MOM! He would REALLY LOVE ME!"
I don't think it's possible that a child could love animals more than these kids do!
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