Lions and Tigers and DINOSAURS! Oh, My!

Today, Christopher and I ventured back into the world of public transportation so we could visit the Natural History Museum. It was AWESOME!! My little boy could have spent hours and hours just looking at all the life-size animals they had in the Mammals exhibit. However, I think the big winner of the day would have to be the dinosaur exhibit where you feel like you have actually journeyed to Jurassic Park. We saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was as alive as any dino can be these days. The T-Rex was motion sensitive so it followed you around the room with its head. Of course, there were loud roars every few seconds to complete the experience. Again, I'd like to compliment my child of no fear. Even though there were several other small children crying, hiding in their mum's coats, and asking to leave; Christopher just had two enormous eyes filled with wonder and then excitement as we walked through the course of the room. We also saw several dinosaur bones and fossils. The whole exhibit was really great.

The T-Rex is behind us here. I don't understand when you ask someone to take your picture why it would not be implied that I would want the dinosaur in the background but I guess I should have specified.

Next, we made our way through the Mammal exhibit I mentioned above. We walked into a room filled with so many life-sized replicas of elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, and an enormous whale hung from the ceiling that covered the entire span of the room. It was quite impressive. I managed to get a few photos of Christopher with the animals but most of the time he was too interested in them to look at me.

We also explored the Planet Earth exhibit, the Creepy Crawly room filled with bugs and spiders, the Bird hallway, and the Human Body exhibit (my personal favorite as there was lots to see about the development of a baby). It was a great day!

On a separate note, I must no longer have the word "tourist" written across my face when I get out among the people here. Twice today, I had someone ask me for directions at the tube stations!! The really exciting part is that I know with 100% confidence that I answered their questions correctly! Well, actually I am only about 75% sure on the second lady, but she had a foreign accent and I had a hard time understanding her. At any rate, it was an exciting moment for me.