A Little Bit of Grossology

On a whim, I decided to pack up the kids, pack some lunches, grab the camera and head to Palm Beach to the South Florida Science Museum.




We have been learning about ancient Egypt from this book and also this book, and we've been studying the human body for science this year with Classical Conversations. So... knowing that this particular museum not only has an exhibit on Egypt which includes a real mummy, but also has a new exhibit called grossology, I declared that it meant if was time for a field trip. Grossology explains everything gross about the human body that you ever cared to know about. Seriously. Gross is putting it mildly. In one "game" you had to take a nice big sniff inside tubes, and choose whether it had the lovely scent of a) armpit, b) morning breath, c) feet or (brace yourself for this one) d) anus. I absolutely kid you not. And let me tell you, I cannot explain why fell for it, but I smelled them. And their scents smelled more than real. Grossology? I think more like Pukeology!


{climbing a skin wall filled with warts, pimples and moles}

Anyhow, once we got over that one, we continued our journey through the museum. We did have fun playing a huge game of operation where the kids got to put the organs and bones in all the right places. This was right up their alley as we've been focusing on the organs for the past several weeks.



In "Egypt" the kids got to stamp their names in Hieroglyphs and truly marveled at the sight of the mummy.


It was a 5 year old child who suffered a cracked cranium and broken leg and was believed to be from sometime in 300BC. Wow, that's mind blowing!


Note to self: take more pictures without the flash. They're just too cool not to!

Outside we took a little nature hike and followed this beauty around for awhile.

And back inside we made some new friends.

We even got to explore space for a bit and see a real piece of Mars!

{hey mom, can astronauts do this?}

If we're going to "be" astronauts, then we have to eat like them too.



{Mmm, astronaut ice cream! Not such a big hit in our house. We'll stick to our Blue Bell}

Yes, it was another beautiful day and I must admit to feeling a tad bit proud for tackling such a "huge" task on my own. I'm finally feeling some relief from the whole baby stage and am gaining much more confidence in my ability to handle all three kids in an environment such as a museum. Typically I'd be with other homeschoolers so I didn't feel all alone and I'd always have a helping hand if need be, but I'm finally feeling able to venture out on little "road trips" alone with my little students. Finally, the big brother is growing up and is becoming so very helpful and knows not to wander too far away from me and the little brother is beginning to understand the whole process of outings and what's expected of his behavior. The middle one just bounces between her two brothers but has always been on her very best behavior on outings.



This last picture shows Gracie, Colton and I having a groovy time at the museum!