what to do on a school holiday??

Go to a museum, of course!

We're on our own until the middle of the month, and the school holiday week is just barely half over, so in order to keep ourselves from missing the daddy/husband, we went to the Museum of Natural History today. Online I found out that it just re-opened its dinosaur display after 3 years of renovations (sounds like the Royal Ontario Museum--though theirs has taken 33 years--crystal notwithstanding). Now I shouldn't have been surprised by the crowds, but with the long and meandering walk to the museum thanks to me forgetting the better map at home (ever dragged a 4 year old over the same 8 blocks three times looking for a street that is in an other direction?) we were shocked by the Japanese-commuter proportions for people traffic control outside the building...I had to take a shot of this to be sure I wasn't imagining things. There were three issues conspiring against us: One: midweek of a Continental school holiday; Two: the newest exhibit in the 80 or so city museums and Three: that there were dinosaurs recently unearthed on this continent about 3 months ago: people have gone diplodocus-gooney around here!

A full hour later, when we finally got in, and we had all gone pee (I didn't care it said Men's on the outside: the stalls were clean and empty--I just averted my eyes away from the wall of urinals and the male glances in my direction--kids in tow can provide lots of excuses!) we fought the crowds within to the exhibit with the BIG bones. It is hard to describe the size of the three brontosaurus bones display we saw...from toe to hip joint alone was taller than three storeys -- the plants in this guy's forest must have been scared leafless by his size! (here's an analogy: take a city bus and put it on its end then add a taxi at the top for the hip bone and 3 squashed couches on the bottom as its clawed foot and you might have an idea of the size).

The displays were great, very interactive and in multiple languages (French, Flemish, English and German) so there was no lack of understanding, and plenty for the kiddies to pull, push, poke, lift, light, listen to and interact with...surprisingly, my whiny kids didn't get lost or bored (a success, I'd say!) and it was me who said, "do you think its time to go yet?"

Just as we were going, the best shot of my day was available...the underside of the T. Rex you see here. Malcolm was careful to point out that Rexie had hollow bones, hands that were virtually useless (didn't even reach one another), a massive jaw with multiple teeth, an incredible sense of smell (Me: "How did he smell?" Malcolm: "Terrible!") as he was more than likely a precursor to the vulture than a velocoraptor (hence his olfactory skill AND the stench). I think he was my favorite of the day. Malcolm told me tonight at bed that this was his favorite, too. Duncan, on the other hand liked the drink and snack in the cafe afterwards (typical!).

Now what will we do with our last weekday tomorrow? I don't think I can do another museum...ideas, anyone?