HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE

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Wednesday, June 10 all the family drove into downtown HOUSTON to the museum district. Today we visited the Museum of Natural Science with its four floors of exhibition halls, giant screen theatre, live insects in the Butterfly Center, and the Planetarium. Needless to say there is no way to cover it all in one day, so we chose the halls that interested us the most and spent our time there. Dwain and David spent their time in the Hall of Paleontology; China's Lost Civilization and the Hall of Ancient Egypt. The first place I headed for with the kids was the Cockrell Butterfly Center. This stunning living exhibit houses thousands of live butterflies in a natural rainforest setting. There is also a complete exhibit of insects. The first thing that hits you as you walk into this three story exhibit is the hot, steamy air!! Everything gets fogged up - you glasses, the camera lens etc. After adjusting to that and figuring out the best way to protect the camera lens, we spent a long time enjoying the atmosphere and watching hundreds of beautiful butterflies fluttering around us. It was not possible to get a good picture of them in flight so it took patience to waiting for them to rest in a place where I could snap a great picture!!

After that we moved into the exhibit of ancient Egypt and the Hall of Paleontology. We also visited the Wortham Giant Screen Theatre where we watched the 3D film "Secret Ocean". By the time we headed back home it was rush hour in Houston!! All the roads and freeway were clogged with traffic, made even worse because of all the construction on the highway systems. We were so thankful David was behind the wheel and knew where he was going. It was scary enough just sitting in the passenger seat!! The drivers in Texas are very aggressive and they drive FAST!! You have to have good reflexes to avoid hitting someone.

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