A (Camera-Free) Museum Adventure

The links in this post may be affiliate links.  That means that if you click them and make a purchase, this site makes a commission.  It will have no impact on the price you pay or the experience of your purchase.

We took Max to the Academy of Sciences yesterday, to break in our new membership! (The advantage of the crazy slowdown at work is having these extra days off to spend with my boys!)
I, stupidly, forgot my camera! (I know, can you believe it? I remember it when I'm going to work or to run errands, but we go an awesome museum and I leave it sitting on the coffee table. *sigh* That reminds me… I need to put that little point & shoot back in my purse!) My photo board has a current challenge to put your DSLR away and shoot with a point & shoot or camera phone; I hadn't actually planned to participate, but then this opportunity presented itself, so I snagged Jamie's phone and took a few… better than nothing, right?

We had told Max on Sunday night that we were going on a new adventure, and that we'd see cool plants and animals, like a WHITE alligator! He was so excited for this adventure, that we had trouble putting him to bed on Sunday… “But the a'venture! The white animals! I want to go see them nooooooow!”

We took a nice little detour to meet Jane, Austin and clan for coffee, which is always a treat, getting to see them and Anthony and Lily.
When we finally got across the bridge, we were rewarded with one of those perfect San Francisco days that suddenly makes sense of the obscene cost of living here.
I'm a terrible judge at this, but probably 72º and clear and gorgeous. The kind of day where you can wear a t-shirt or a sweatshirt, and it seems to adjust to be perfect, just for you!

I've never been to the Academy as an adult (I don't know if I even went as a kid!) and neither had Jamie. We made an ill-fated attempt to go back in September, on free admission day, but the many blocks long line for admission sent us home disappointed. As we had driven by that day, Jamie spotted, out of the corner of his eye, a T. Rex skeleton, right there in the main lobby. “Oh my GAWD! I've never actually seen one of those! That's so cool! I want to go there SO BAD!” I'm pretty sure I saw flashes of a six-year old dinosaur obsessed version of my husband in that 20 seconds of excitement.

So we scored street (FREE!) parking a couple of blocks away, and walked across the plaza to the entrance… Jamie's practically dancing as we take care of the new member paperwork… he can see bits of the T. Rex through the window, but he obviously can't wait to get inside!

And apparently, that enthusiasm runs in the family:

Jamie, upon seeing a T.Rex skeleton in person for the first time: It's a little shorter than I expected… but those front arms are even tinier than I imagined!”
They are seriously TEENY TINY!

We only spent a few hours on this first trip; getting our bearings, learning the layout, taking mental notes of where we want to explore more in-depth next time. (Me making mental notes of photos I want to take!)

I gave up on shooting with Jamie's phone pretty quickly; there's an annoying lag between pressing the shutter and taking the picture, so photos of Max were pretty much impossible, except when he was enthralled by an exhibit, like the rays that swim practically underfoot!

He loved these so much, he had to get a closer look!

So we had a great time, and can't wait to go back! If you're a local friend, let me know if you want to come with us! Our membership allows us to bring 2 adult guests and kids! (Awesome, right?!?!) so we want to bring as many people with us as we can!

And one last picture, this is Claude, the albino alligator, and one of the main attractions. I can only imagine how cool this picture would be if I'd had my “real” camera! LOL