The Beckhams Go West {Day 18}

In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. I highly recommend the Foder's guide to National Parks of the West, we used it when planning our trip and it was a great resource. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.

Day 18 - Tucson & Saguaro National Park

On day 18 we got up early and headed out to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Although it's called a museum, it's more like a zoo and it was fabulous. They had tons of exhibits and animals, there was even an entire aviary filled with hummingbirds! Since it was mostly outside, by the end of the day we were hot. Good thing the pool was waiting for us when we got back from Andy & Matt's house.

The Beckhams Go West {Day 16}

In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. I highly recommend the Foder's guide to National Parks of the West, we used it when planning our trip and it was a great resource. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.

Day 16 - Tucson & Pima Air and Space Museum

Our second full day in Tucson we took a visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum. There was so much to see and do at the museum it was hard to fit it all into one visit. Our afternoon in Tucson was spent swimming, the kids loved playing in the water with the dogs.

Chihuly Glass {part 2}...

It seems like I did a lot of laying on the ground to take pictures from below during this trip.  These were from the Chihuly Glass Museum.  The first is an entire ceiling made from handblown glass.  The last 2 were taken by each of the kids' favorite hanging sculptures.  

Chihuly Gardens & Glass...

Our last stop for the day was at the Chihuly Gardens & Glass Museum.  To say it was amazing would be an understatement.  It was quiet possibly my most favorite thing we did that day.  The glass sculptures were incredible.  The kids really enjoyed the stunning artwork and it was a lovely way to end the day.

The Miami Children's Museum (part 2)...

One of the exhibits at the Miami Children's Museum was a veterinary office complete with a wall of cubbies for all the stuffed animals. Before I realized it Kiley had climbed in one of them and was trying to pull the stuffed doggie in with her. Seeing the shenanigans, Cole & Will followed suit and before we knew it all 3 kids were in the animal cubbies.

The Miami Children's Museum...

The kids and I spent a week in Miami leading up to Doug's college graduation. While we were there my mom & I took them to the Miami Children's Museum. It was a great and the kids loved it. I must say that it was a lovely museum, but I still think the Boston Children's Museum was the best kid's museum we've ever visited. I really love that our kids are becoming museum connoisseurs at such young ages.

Boston Museum of Science (part 2)...

Highlights from the Museum of Science were an area where kids could make their own mini museum and microscopes. Lots and lots of microscopes. In fact, I'm already on the look out for one for Cole's birthday.

Boston Museum of Science...

We were lucky to only have 1 rainy day during our trip. On that day we took the T over to the Museum of Science. To be honest, I had done very little research on this museum. I heard it was great and I knew that it was free with our local museum membership. Holy cow, it knocked our socks off. It was HUGE and I would guess about 95% of the exhibits were interactive. Cole had a blast learning about all sorts of science stuff.

The Boston Children's Museum (part 2)...

The Boston Children's Museum had so many incredible, interactive activities for the kids. Cole loved climbing to the top of their huge cage like thing and Kiley liked pretending to be on TV. There were bubbles, and building, and games. It was truly and awesome experience.

The Boston Children's Museum...

After the Harvard Museum of Natural History and a quick lunch, we spent the afternoon at the Boston Children's Museum. Holy cow, was it incredible! Now only were the exhibits great, but since we went in the afternoon it was virtually empty.

Harvard Museum of Natural History (part 2)...

Cole absolutely loved the Harvard Museum of Natural History. There was an entire room dedicated to rocks and minerals and lots of dinosaur skeletons. Since his pre-k class finished the year studying about dinosaurs this was a great culminating activity for him. He knew the names of lots of the skeletons before I could even read them to him.

Harvard Museum of Natural History...

We headed over to Cambridge to visit the Harvard campus and to take a look at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. It was an excellent museum and we ended up spending a lot more time there than I thought we would. It was pretty empty when we were there, which was nice because we could let Kiley walk through the museum without having to worry about her getting lost.