the new bell museum

We took the kids to the new Bell Museum of Natural History at the U of MN.

We haven't been there in years, but used to go fairly often because it was free, and also there was never a crowd on a weekday, so it was the perfect thing to get some homeschoolers out of the house in the winter.

They complained that it was boring.  I suppose it was.  It was in a fancy old art deco 1930s building, dark, marble floors and paneled walls, not bright like this new one.

And it was small, so many of the specimens were stored and not actually on display like this horrifying array of bats, all labeled.

The Touch and See Room was fun. They held a cockroach, so that was something.

The original dioramas were brought to the new location, though some of the mystery and charm was lost in this big bright space, instead of the little dark hallways, but that's okay.  Can't live in the past, even if the past was amazing.

And then we headed home again and picked up more ice cream sandwiches on the way.

Love you guys, Grandma and Grandpa