Mayborn Museum

Boogs asked to go back to the Mayborn Museum in Waco. It has been several years since we last visited. We called the JBoys, who now live close to Waco, to see if they wanted to join us. I love this children's museum. There are so many things for kids to do. I was a little worried that it might be too young for Boogs and the JBoys, but they had a great time hanging out and exploring together.

There were turtles, snakes, fish, spiders, and a few other critters to see in the vertebrates and invertebrates exhibit rooms.

The museum docent was a very nice retired teacher. She came over and talked with us and the boys while they were working on drawing and naming their own planets.

 There were high school students organizing a few activities.

We went into the communications room next. It had old telephones, typewriters, and several different code languages for you to explore. The boys liked learning some of the symbols in Hobo. The symbols were used by train jumpers and homeless travelers back in the great depression. 

Our crew was full of energy. The docent suggested that we take a look at the outdoor exhibits and let the boys run for a bit to burn off some energy. We have been going to this museum since Boogs was 3 and I never knew there were outdoor exhibits. There is an entire historic village behind the museum.

We were lucky, the museum was not crowded at all. The boys were able to go from building to building and easily play with the materials without any wait time. I like this pic of the boys in the school house.

There were several games on the lawn - hoops, horseshoes, milk jugs to knock down, bean bags to throw in baskets, and a couple of other things.

There was a washboard, roller dryer, and a clothesline set up in the shade of a tree. Boogs grabbed a buck and went to the well for water. He brought the water back and the boys washed the towels that were hanging on the line.

 I was surprised how engaged they all were in this activity.

D and I were laughing so hard when the boys were playing in the pioneer house. They gave themselves names and called us in to "et" our possum dinner.

I made Boogs sit in this beautiful tree for a picture. He was less than thrilled.

After viewing the entire village, the boys took off running back to the entrance door.

It took a while for D and I to catch up to them. When we opened the door, we found them like this. They were dead tired from the heat. Goofy boys!

 We toured through the forest, cave, and mammoth rooms.

Here is a picture of Boogs on the glass floor over the mammoth skeleton when he was 6 (I think).

We had a cool view of the train table from upstairs.

 It is a good thing the museum was so empty because their drum beating was way too loud.

I've always loved the water and bubbles room. Boogs blew a humongous bubble  from this sheet of bubble solution.

Everyone tried to make the hula hoop bubble go above their heads. J2 was the only one to make it happen. Boogs bubble burst right after I took this picture.

 Making a water pathway in the water table.

The light and sound exhibits were really neat. They played all of the instruments and then moved on to playing with light, mirrors, and shadow.

 These were supposed to be foam builders but the boys decided to turn them into hitting clubs.

The simple machines room had plenty of hands on activities to play with. It was hard to roll a square wheel on the track.

 Lifting weights with different numbers of pulleys.

 A giant spirograph.

 When Boogs was little, we used to spend a long time in the pioneer room.

 He has grown quite a bit since he last played in here.

We had a great time exploring the Mayborn Museum. I wonder if Boogs will want to go back again next summer or if he will be too grown up for it.

This post is linked to: