We've had a very busy couple of weeks, but one of the highlights was a trip to the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side (which we had never visited in our four years as New Yorkers). The impetus was a live butterfly exhibit that was closing just after Memorial Day. Since Emmett had recently fallen hard for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I thought he would get a kick out a room full of butterflies. So we hauled our cabooses up to 81st and Central Park West on a hot Saturday afternoon.
The butterfly exhibit was something of an anti-climax. It was a typical New York experience: Too many people crowded into too small of a space. And I think Peter I were spoiled by the butterfly exhibit we had seen two years before at the Melbourne Zoo. However, I was impressed by this one particular butterfly who did a great job of looking like a leaf:
Emmett was only moderately interested in the butterflies but he was captivated by the rest of the museum--in particular its vast collection of taxidermied animals. Each vast hall was better than the last: Emmett would run to each animal in the room, pointing and shouting its name (or his best guess--since he hasn't been introduced to moas and ibexes yet). He was in toddler heaven.
As museums go, it is decidedly old fashioned: No buttons to push, no computers to interact with. And some of the exhibits are hilariously, determinindly stodgy. Take, for example, this exhibit, with its oh-so scintillating title "The Vegetation of Middle North America":
At one point, I muttered grumpily to Peter, "I don't think this museum would be that popular if it wasn't in New York." But as usual, my judgmental side had jumped to conclusions that were, frankly, wrong. Because it turns out that the American Museum of Natural History knows how to stuff, pose and light some impressive animals:
I'm not sure if the pictures do them justice, but those bears and moose were BIG and realistic. And we hadn't even gotten to the whale yet. It turns out that a life-sized model of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling is an awesome sight. I would post a picture, but the hall was too dark, the whale too big, and my photography skills too limited for my little automatic camera to do the scene justice.
Emmett also loved the whale and ran amok under it until he fell and ended up with some facial road rash. Despite the tears, all three of us agreed that it was an awesome day.
