Minnesota History Museum

So one day the older two had a day off of school and we decided to go visit the Minnesota History Museum over in St.Paul. It is wonderful and extremely kid-friendly. Kids 6 and under are free. Parking is available right across from the museum for a flat $5 fee (extremely convenient and good price). The exhibits are very hand on and there are lockers available for coats and lunch-coolers. We all loved it even though I had trouble lingering too long reading things (just ask my sister Bekah about her experiences with me in a museum!!). This first photo is a sod house like the kind the pioneers often built before they were able to make wooden ones.

It was white-washed on the inside walls and had a neat surround sound, special-effects set up that made it sound like a wind storm coming up on a wide-open midwest un-populated prairie plain.

The sod-house ice-box/pantry

Two different buffaloes were taxidermed for the kids to touch. One was upright in a re-created prairie habitat.

The other one was sideways with anatomically correct buffalo organs for the kids to learn how the buffalo was put together and also what the pioneers and Native Americans would use all the parts of the for.

A railroad car with a grain-transport exhibit inside

A teepee with a Native American holographic story telling exhibit inside

Thea Belle was delighted with these tiny taxi-dermed baby chicks (probably about 50 of them).

A grain elevator with a kids-proportioned multi-storied, chutes and ladder maze inside.

The Moline Plow Company Flying Dutchman

An awesome, well-made mining exhibit with a number of inter-active explosive set-ups. This one required two people to insert 10 sticks of dynamite into specific holes and then yell "Fire in the hole!!" and leave the chamber. Then the detonator hit the handle and the there was actual shaking and terrific sound and crazy-bright light as the chamber exploded. The boys did this about 25 times in a row and then came back through the winding exhibit to do it again. Thea Belle hated it -- speding most of the time in this cave with her hands over her ears and her head in my shoulder.

This picture was at the end of our trip, before lunch, with bribes and still Deke was having none of it.