Over our winter break we took our whole family (both sides of grandparents) to the newly opened Perot Museum of Nature and Science. I am so excited that Dallas has a new museum! We have had so much fun going to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Museums at Fair Park, so the prospect of a HUGE new museum was right up this family's alley.
There are five floors with eleven permanent exhibits in this totally state of the art building. I am gonna have a momma confession, this girl who gets her news from Kidd Kraddick and E! wasn't pumped about getting my learn on, I was most thrilled to take a ride on their all-glass elevators and escalator. Due to my strollerage I was unable to get on the escalator, but I did enjoy MANY rides on the elevators. Like mother like son, Cade was pumped because he thought the elevators MUST be home to Zurg, the mean Darth Vadar-esque guy from Toy Story 2. So every time we got on the elevator he would get this creepy look on his face and use his creepster voice to talk to Zurg.
It's so hard not to be amazed at every exhibit they have! The first stop for us was the dinosaurs. Cade was wondering why they didn't have their skin on. Um, I dunno buddy. Momma doesn't want to explain decomposition to you. Oh wait- there's an example of a fossil footprint and bones in a rock, okay, so that explains that! He also loved being the keeper of the map (see his back pocket). I couldn't resist how presh he was in his new dark denims, black Chucks, and the rolled up map in the pocket. Such a big boy, I don't even know what to do but hug and kiss him everywhere. Call CPS. I'm obsessed with my own kid. (Most of the time, unless he's being obnoxious and jumping off from couch to couch and introducing himself to others as "Bruce Wayne Batman Cade Lamb". Jeez)
Each exhibit had the main part and an activity or two for little kids. It was great! I don't feel like I missed out on too much while I was busy juggling the kids and making sure nobody got lost. On this pic above there were magnetic dino bones that kids got to put together.
The weather room was one of the family favorites. There was a platform that you could stand on that simulated various size earthquakes. Both kids LOVED IT! I also loved the docent who kindly rebuffed the jerkface in front of us who complained that "What?! We only get to stay on for one earthquake, last time we got to stay on for THREE!" And the docent kindly said, "Last time it wasn't the holidays and there wasn't a long line behind you." Face! I was so proud of him for kindly shutting them up. Don't go whining in the museum and passive-aggressively attacking the docent, GROWN RETIRED WOMAN!
Devyn took her ride on the Minor Earthquake turn. Oh yeah, and said Rude Jerkface's son whined about the ride being a Minor Magnitude. Hello?! Babies get to experience earthquakes too, and good Mommas don't let them experience major earthquakes until age 3. I'm amazed that some people always find something to complain about. Why they gotta be like that ALL THE TIME?! My inner waitress fist bumps me and wags her finger in total agreeance. *vent complete*
I was so excited to get off the earthquake and spot a real live water cycle. I let Devyn push her way through the crowd to get in line for a turn with the -ations. You know, evaporation condensation precipitation? Check out the sweet shot Uncle Alex got below.
The Perot Museum also had tributes to oil drilling with a huge phallic drill, geodes and gemstones galore (making me ever regret not buying that gorge blue opal ten years ago during my study abroad in Australia!), a physical and kinetic exhibit where you could race a T-Rex, Olympic gymnast, basketball player, etc, and the children's museum.
Oh the children's museum! I wish I had pics to share, but I was having too much fun watching the kids. This summer I could totally see us spending a whole day in just the children's museum section. They have interactive camping, farming, construction, art, climbing for toddlers, and a cityscape the kids can climb and slide around. Very awesome.
We finished our day with dinner at Il Cane Rosso in Deep Ellum. If you haven't been, take yo'self! They have awesome family sized salads and pizza to share. Their mommy juice, Crangria, is cranberry sangria fabulosity. Just do it. And then save room for their dessert, the Italiano version of beignets. Basically funnel cake-like donut holes that come in a warm bag of powdered sugar and a side of chocolate dipping sauce. Amazeballs. Literally.
Review:
Ages: 0-100. yes!
Kid friendly: As I said earlier, there are toddler and preschooler friendly parts to each exhibit. It was very geniusly laid out and planned. The bathrooms are perf, and there are plenty of places to sit and cover up if you're a nursing mom. There are also parks and places to sit if you pack your own snacks, they also have a cafe but we didn't check that out.
Parking: There are plenty of pay lots surrounding, or you can reserve parking cheaper online for $4.
Momma Tip: During holidays and busy seasons you can and SHOULD buy your tix online to make sure you get in. They will turn you away at the door if you don't have a reservation. Also there are heaps of long lines inside (it looks like an airport when you first walk in), so get those tix online so you don't have to deal with that mess. Teachers- you get in free with your district ID. The only glitch is you can reserve your free teacher ticket online, so you must buy a ticket and reserve it online if you want to guarantee you get in.
