It was a very long day, starting at 7:30, but Sam and I had a blast! We rode on Coach buses down to DC and were able to watch Night a the Museum on tiny TV's on the bus for 2 hours then were dropped off right in front of the National Museum of Natural History. We ended up walking down to the Air and Space museum for an hour and then came back to the history museum because we were meeting some classmates there for lunch. We had a wonderful lunch. I had Beef brisket with roasted potaotes and grilled acorn squash. Sam had pizza & most of my brisket! We then headed to te National Geographic Photography contest winners exhibit where I took this picture. And several others. The contest is always very emotional for me, because so many wonderful wildlife and planetary moments are captured. You can see the winners here:
Then we went to the Ocean Hall which was not open for several years for renovations. IT-WAS-AMAZ-A-ZING!!
There was a lot to learn and tons to see. We loved the deep sea section. Sam with a very large jellyfich replica.
This was one of many favorite pictures at the photo exhibit. It was the youth photographer of the year who took this wonderful picture of an owl about to take flight.
Back to Ocean Hall. This is what Sam wanted to go to see. The Giant Squid, Architeuthis. This squid is not as impressive as the one they had in the exhibit in years past.
I snapped this picture of a Floppy Basset hound hanging from his masters car window on our walk to the museum's. You can see the Smithsonian castle in the background.
The Terra Cotta warrior exhibit was just amazing. It was unreal, honestly. They had 7 warriors, a horse, 3 musicians and all kinds of neat artifacts that were found in different pits in China. My favorite were the small clay coffin's that were found with exotic animal bones in them of deer, birds and monkeys along with clay bowls to feed them with in the afterlife. And the life size bronze swans and herons in the "entertainment" section of the pit that were on display.
We brought home a 10" clay warrior to remember the day. He was made in the same way as the warriors found in China. You can get your clay warrior here: http://www.shopterracottawarriors.com
The detail in these small replicas is nothing compared to the details in the few original we were so fortunate to see.
It was very quiet in the exhibit, there was alot of reading to do, but people were in awe. You could hear a pin drop. It really was a fantastic exerience for me. I was the last to come out of the exhibit because I just found myself staring at the warriors wondering who they were. Each warrior was unique with his own facial features, height and personality. It was spooky. They had to be modeled after real people.
After the Terra cotta exhibit, it was off to Hunt Valley where we had tickets to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif. The kids read the book for school while studying Greek Mythology. All the girls thought Percy was "HOT". I had forgotten what it was like to be a teenager. ha ha
We got home at 10:15.
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