Greek Goddess

For the past few years, Marina and I have enjoyed attending the Greek Festival. Since the opening day tends to be less crowded, I decided to take part of the day off today so we could go. Marina decided to wear her Megara costume from Hercules this year.

We arrived around lunch time, so the first thing we did was eat. Marina surprised me by choosing calamari to eat. I let her try my lamb sandwich which she also liked.

After we ate, we did a little shopping – her favorite part! We saw beautiful jewelry and home accessories. Marina also tried out some of the rides.

Before we headed out, we took a look inside the gorgeous cathedral. The chapel has added some iconography since last year which we were both impressed with. When we entered the cathedral a tour was going on so we listened in for a while. By then we were ready to go home.

Last Days of Pompeii

We saw the Pompeii exhibit at the museum in September shortly after it opened. Marina and I both wanted to see it again before it moved on later this month. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea because it was very crowded.

When we arrived we had a little time before our schedule entry. So we looked at the Egypt exhibit. Marina has gotten so good about reading the signs herself and discussing what she reads with me. We did quite a bit of that today. We looked at the mummies, especially the difference between rich people and poor in the way they were preserved.

 Next we headed for the Pompeii exhibit. Marina and I looked longest at the artwork and jewelry. She was anxious to go to the tavern, where a woman was explaining food, the marketplace and games of the Ancient Romans.Marina was a bit shy at first, but ultimately she was up front and asking questions. She played a dice game with another little girl and was thrilled to win! She wanted to see what god or goddess she is most like, so we took the survey. Sure enough, she was Apollo again. We watched the time lapse video and looked at the body casts before heading out.

Marina wanted to see the health exhibit next. We visited her favorite parts and did a DNA extraction experiment Before stopping for lunch. After lunch, we went right back to the health exhibit. When I told Marina the Super Food Heroes show was scheduled in 15 minutes, she headed right for the stage and wanted to wait for it to start. She even convinced some other families to stay and watch. The show didn't disappoint. She was selected as Spinachiever again. She was thrilled! Fifteen minutes after that was the Pirate bacteria show. So we stayed for that as well.

Marina wanted to play in the Discovery Zone for a while. She had fun with the wind tunnel and huge building blocks. We stayed there until it closed. By then, we were tired and we were ready to head home. Marina looked at a butterfly display on the way out. Near our car was a flock of geese. She tried to chase them off, but they were pretty unflappable. So she gave up and got into the car.

Princess of Pompeii

 

A few months ago, Marina and I learned an exhibit about the city of Pompeii would be coming to the local museum. Since then, we've been learning about Pompeii and Ancient Rome. Marina often gushes,"I love Pompeii!" She even picked out an outfit to wear. She picked out her Meg from Hercules costume (yes, it's Greek, not Roman, but close enough!), a gold cape from a Cleopatra costume and a gold circlet with grape leaves on it that I'd had for years. Her outfit was a hit at the Museum!

The exhibit opened last week and Marina had the day off today. So we took a risk that it wouldn't be crowded today. It paid off. The Museum didn't have many people at all. We headed to the Pompeii exhibit first. I was thrilled to find out I was allowed to take pictures inside. The exhibit was filled with statues and household items from Pompeii. Marina quickly lost interest. Then we came across a young woman who had games the kids could try and she told us the myth of Persephone. Marina loved that part!

Later in the exhibit, we saw some of the casts of the bodies found in Pompeii. Marina was excited to see the cast of a dog we had seen in two of the books we had read. We also watched a time lapse simulation of the volcanic eruption that covered the city. Marina watched that several times.

Before we left the exhibit area, we met up with a gladiator. Marina was very excited to speak with him. She kept telling him about things she saw on TV. This confused him a bit. She just didn't understand that!

After two hours in the Pompeii exhibit, we took a break for lunch. That re-energized us. We went back into the museum to the space exhibit where we saw a play about experiments and hypotheses. Marina also had a lot of fun with the infrared camera. Next we moved on to the health exhibit. Marina and another little girl performed an experiment on DNA extraction and she tried many of the health stations. Near the end of the day, her favorite show, The Superfood Heroes, started. Once again, she managed to be selected as Spinachiever. That always makes her happy.

We spent all day at the Museum. It was a lot of fun!