Washington DC was such a good stop full of fun facts and family. After the majority of a day in the Smithsonian Museums what more could one possibly need to know?!
I was a little bummed that our North Carolina ride seems to be splitting right through the Great Smoky Mountains and the beaches but it is offensively hot at this point so we needed some indoor activities. Who knew that Raleigh, NC has some fantastic museums to make up for the hot weather preventing hikes? Sonja, that's who! Thanks for the list of things to try in NC.
Keep in mind when you see this child STILL in the PJ's at the North Carolina Welcome Center that we DID actually knock out that whole drive the same day as the Virginia stop post (as if more than 2 of you are actually reading these instead of scrolling through pics but just clarifying in case!). She hasn't been wearing PJs for multiple days and let's be honest, it's a nice break from the daisy dukes and boots anyway!
Rolled up to the hotel and they gave the Human Bear a shirt to design for a competition at the local hospital. Whoever wins the design contest will have their design printed on hospital gowns for the children while they go through treatment.
Not sure the Human Bear doesn't get yet that everyone may not want something that specifically says Lovella on it (and I also found out later she thought she was designing a shirt to be printed for herself...oh the discussions on doing kind things for others without anything in return continues!)
Fun design though:)
We were too tired to move very far so we hit up Trader Joe's and called it a night in the fancy Days Inn!
For the first full day in Raleigh, the Human Bear wanted to see a movie at the Museum of Natural Sciences at 2 PM and I said HECK no, we were looking through the options the night before and were planning to go first thing in the morning. Well, got parked at 9 AM and there's NO WAY we would be there long enough for an afternoon show...stay tuned!
While walking only a few 100 yards to the museum, we pass the State Capitol of North Carolina that just so happens to be having the 90th Anniversary for the State Highway Patrol and we have to see all of their cool gadgets and gizmos along with a tour of the building.
She was ready to get in there and debate. Thank goodness there weren't any people and a blockade. I shall continue to be the receiver of all that is debatable!
That wasn't too long of a distraction from our journey to the Museum of Natural Sciences and it was full of good information. Let's head the last few feet to our destination. HOLY CRAP there's a Museum of History, "Let's Go!" the Human Bear exclaims.
"Hey Mommy, you wanna get over here and milk this cow? It says the women and children are supposed to do it!" No, Human Bear, thank you for offering though!
Not only were all of these buildings stunning but they were also really well done. We got to learn about every bit of history in North Carolina from the space race, sports, quilting, and first people.
My most entertaining part of the day...not sure what that says about me!
I'm pretty certain that this was created to show how difficult it may be to launch a spacecraft...she was UNAMUSED that she couldn't get it!
For all of you that haven't received postcards from us...here you go!
Oh look, that matches Daddy's cooler! Let's take a pic:) The Human Bear then begins to grill me asking if the safety features that were enforced after Dale Earnhardt Sr. was killed would have prevented him from dying if they were already invented and used before his crash...Y'all, my brain PHYSICALLY hurts!
Feeling tired yet? Wanna go and take a nap?
I guess that answers that question!
This exhibit was fun because it had an activity to take a selfie with your favorite quilt and post it to Instagram saying why it is your favorite one. The Human Bear picked the one below because it has lots of places on it and she and her Mommy like to travel to see different places. They then had a screen that would show the IG feed so you could see your post projected on the way (kids these days).
That perked me up a little but I am losing steam on the amount of information my brain can process with all of these museums. The Human Bear seems un-phased and only wanting more facts, more details and more things to touch!
I believe we are finally rounding out the first two unintended stops and are ready to scoot on over to our original stop for the day...I guess we are going to catch that 2 PM show after all! She's always right.
These pictures don't do the museum justice, if you're insanely bored (which if you're still reading this, you must be) google the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and they have an amazing shot of this whole block.
Someone knows the answer...haha she's that kid and we ALL knew it already.
"Hey Mommy, can you check out my wingspan and tell me how I measure up?" We then had to try and guess which one would match Daddy and every other person we've ever been related to or ever met.
They had the greatest hands-on science lab! There must have been at least 30 different stations where kids watched a slideshow on an ipad and performed experiments. The Human Bear learned how to test if something has Vitamin C in it and all about density along with water filtration systems.
These fancy looking tables would read any and every tagged animal that the Human Bear could pick up and slap on the table. It would then cycle through what the animal was, where you could find it, the sounds it makes and oh so much more!
"Want to pet a cockroach?" No, but again, thank you for asking!
I was JUST wondering why we haven't gotten to touch a live uncaged snake yet!
These digital microscopes were so cool and powerful!
"Oh, I haven't been a bee keeper yet!"
Holy crap, we got so caught up in all of that we almost missed the 2 PM show! Whew, I hadn't heard anything about dinosaurs yet or archeologists. Let's get our Dinosaurs Alive 3D on.
Fear not friends, the Human Bear DID get her suit so she can breathe on the moon next time and she is officially out of spend money! Everyone be aware and don't let her hit you up for any cash.
I am unsure how she was able to manage getting this on in the car WHILE buckled in her booster seat, but she did it and then proudly marched from the car to the hotel room.
While smugly looking at me as if I was absurd!
Now it's time to be SO totally pooped that we just fall in to bed and pass out right? WRONG, apparently one of us still had some energy to burn! I had to drag the Human Bear out of the pool against her will after sweating in the NC heat for an hour and a half.
I hope she sleeps well tonight, I know I will. We still have another day here and earlier we were told about an art museum. Oh man, I must rest my brain to intake more information.
For the 5 minutes of peace I get a day in the shower, tonight it was interrupted with a crying Human Bear having a "catastrophe" trying to put peanut butter on a banana. We may have hit our wall today! haha Maybe we will try a few relaxing things tomorrow...to be continued Raleigh!
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