Natural History Museum/Butterfly Pavilion
When the kiddos had the week off from School for summer break a few of the moms decided we would take the trek down to downtown Los Angeles to check out the Natural History Museum's Butterfly Pavilion. And boy was I glad we did.
You have to sign-up for a specific ticket for the Pavilion, with a time stamp. They only let in a certain number of people at a time, and it's only for a specific block of time. We were lucky in that one of our group had a different time slot, but they let her come in with us anyways.
They don't allow strollers in the pavilion, which was a bit of a shock. With all the stuff we brought for the day (snacks, diapers, etc.) it was a bit hard to just leave it outside. Luckily I had brought the ergo carrier for Ocho, otherwise I'm not sure what I would have done to carry Ocho through the whole experience and keep a close eye on EG. They had a security person outside, so our stuff was safe, but it was still a pain to get the tiny children out of car seats and into another thing.
You buy a ticket for the museum and a ticket for the pavilion.
The pavilion is made of lots of little pathways, and is fairly to very child friendly. It's a bit difficult to follow all the rules (touch nothing, stay on the path, be sort of quiet, etc.) but if you are diligent and you have a child who listens, it's not to hard.
There are lots of little places for the kiddos to sit, and the butterfly's really are everywhere.
Our gang of kiddos was just the right size. Enough kids that they kept each other occupied, but not to many that we had to wrangle them every which way.
They ranged in age from 21 months to 2.5 years, but it was good for everyone. Both the boys and the girls enjoyed the butterfly's, and the eggs.
The butterfly's are really close to the pathways, so it's really easy for them to really see the butterfly's. They even landed on one or two of the kids at least a few times, which was really amazing to see.
Once we had our time in the pavilion (30minutes) we went upstairs to level 2 and explored the Discovery Center. This was perfect for our rambunctious kids. They had all sorts of fossils you could touch and play with, as well as magnifying glasses and microscopes. It was bright, airy and an enjoyable time for everyone.
Best part for the kids- these movable chairs/building blocks. Totally fun for them to roll around the hall. Very musemey....
Face to face encounters with animals was fun- some of them bronze statues, like the turtle below, and others actual taxidermy. I was surprised that none of the kids seem scared of the taxidermy animals, because they can be sort of overwhelming and scary.
We also walked around some of the panoramas with the other animals. That was a nice empty hall for the kiddos to run around and spy the different animals.
We also ended up eating lunch at the restaurant, which was delicious. They have a good kids meal with a hot dog and applesauce for about $5. That was really nice. I wish I had a picture of it. It was a touch crowded, and they didn't have a ton of high chairs. Fair warning- EG fell off the adult chair, so be careful!
Overall, a good experience. I don't know if I would have made the trek if the pavilion wouldn't have been open. The exhibits by themselves didn't do that much for EG.
Your DH had an excursion to that natural history museum when he was about the age of EG. As his stroller was being pushed up the ramp into the museum, he was told how there would be lots of animals, stuffed ones, that he would see that day, etc. He looked up hopefully and asked, "Dey gonna sing????" (Later, we realized that he was a child of a modern age, where Bear Country Jamboree at Disneyland was the norm!)
ReplyDelete