We Get Around: Part 3

Like so many of you who've said it before, I'm never really sure how much non-craftaliciousness to share with you. But, summer has really flown by and we've been trying to soak in the last little bits of it over the past few weeks. Labor Day weekend was supposed to entail a getaway to Michigan with our family but plans changed and we ended up spending most of the weekend in and around Chicago—for the second weekend in a row. And I was so glad we did.

We're not big "smile for the camera" type of people. I think we'd almost all rather be behind the lens than in front of it but when I handed my FMF strap-clad camera over to Chris on Friday morning, I knew there'd likely be some photos of my mom, sister, and I (Photos of people? What a shocker!) that I would need to delete when importing. I was pleasantly surprised to find this nice (albeit squinty) photo of me with the two most important women in my life. I had to share this before moving on to what we say that day . . .

Just like the last-minute Tall Ships exhibit we trotted out to the weekend prior, we caught word of the Mammoths and Mastodons exhibit at the Field Museum at the tail end of its time in Chicago. Chris and I had recently been talking about how he'd never been to the Field and so it seemed like the perfect time to get down there. We had the time. There was something special to see. And we could all do it together.

The exhibit was so worth the trip. I won't narrate too much but just let you see some of the photos. If the exhibit is headed toward a museum near you anytime soon, I highly recommend checking it out. I was amazed by the number of artifacts and very kid-friendly (but not overly cheesy) videos and explanations that were part of the exhibit. Everything was very easy to understand and presented in such a fascinating way that even 4 adults who aren't particularly avid about this type of stuff spent almost 2 hours perusing and learning. And today, more than a week later, I'm still excited about it.

Here are a handful of shots from the exhibit.

This is Lyuba, a wooly mammoth calf who died around the age of 1 month in modern-day Russia 40,000 years ago. Not only adorable but also very telling to the scientists who have studied her, Lyuba was one of the most interesting parts of the exhibit.

These tusks were about 9 feet long. I'm pretty sure the sign said tusks can get to be about 14 feet long. Or, maybe this was 7 feet long and they can grow to 9 feet. Either way, they are huge.

I actually learned from the History Channel this week (while sewing on my UHG swap package) that the large nasal sinus cavity in the center of the skull of mammoths and mastodons (eye sockets are on the sides of the skull) may have lead to the hysteria of the cyclops and giant beings with one eye that plague mythology. The truth is probably that the ancients may have found skeletons of mammoths or mastodons and used these finding to support existing myths. Pretty interesting, if you ask me.

Here some tusk shows the way it grows out from the face of these mammals—in slices/segments almost like wood. The tusks of mammoths, mastodons and even elephants can reveal everything from diet to famines to fight history. Too much to explain, but another very interesting part of the exhibit.

The gift shop rocked, too.

The other portion of the museum that I was really excited to see (memories of a fascinations with Egypt and hieroglyphics during the 3rd grade come flooding back) was the Inside Ancient Egypt exhibit. I wont' bore you with the details on this one either. But also very worth checking out if you're in Chicago.

I was pretty interested in this papyrus Book of the Dead. It was really amazing to see that this was so well preserved and that it was not a replica.

This was the mummy of a child whose body was unwrapped at some point. The museum is not certain if the unwrapping happened at the Field after arrival or at some time before that. There apparently is no record.

How would you like use these (and those below) for putting your makeup on every day? Not as easy as our little brushes today.

Oh, and Sue was pretty cool, too.