See the Dinosaurs Before They're Gone

There are only a few more weeks to see the dinosaur exhibit at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum before the exhibit closes for a five-year long renovation. The Fossil Hall exhibit will close to the public after April 27th.

K has recently gotten into dinosaurs - or at least pretending to be one. We take a music class at Sitar Arts Center and the teacher does a version of Jim Along Josie in which we pretend to be various animals. Her favorite part is when we "STOMP like a dinosaur, Jim along Josie. STOMP like a dinosaur, Jim along Joe." So I couldn't pass up her last chance to see real dinosaur bones for a while.

Last Thursday we met up with some friends at 10am, when the museum opens. Between the spring tourists and the school field trips, the line just to get in the door of the museum was quite long, and inside it was quite crowded.

The museum has extended hours most days this spring, from 10am-7:30pm. Visiting in the evening is probably your best bet if you are looking to beat the crowds.

After exploring the dinosaur hall, we moved on to the "Ice Age" exhibit. We particularly enjoyed looking at some of the smaller early mammals, but some of the larger ones were declared "too scary."

The kids' favorite part was probably the small circular stair area - it looked like a place where a movie should be playing - next to the scary creature pictured above. The four 2 year olds spent a long time climbing and playing there.

We meandered through a special exhibit on the Mud Masons of Mali and through the Ocean Hall before heading upstairs to the Insect Zoo.

When we'd had enough of the crowds, we took a short walk over to the sculpture garden to let the kids play and eat lunch.