Thank You Museum Reciprocity!

Our entertainment budget is fairly small, but I try to make the most of it.  Our zoo membership is one of my best buys, and this year we also purchased a membership to the Detroit Science Center.  The membership can also be used at the Detroit Children's Museum and for partial reciprocity at some other local museums.

When the weather turned a little chillier in Nashville (I swear, the cold follows us like Pigpen's cloud of dust!), we decided to spend some time at the Adventure Science Center.  Donnie and I, along with our cousins, used to visit the museum when we would visit Nan and Pap, although it was called the Cumberland Museum back then. 

I showed my trusty Detroit Science Center membership card to the museum volunteer, hoping to get some money off our visit.  To my surprise, my membership covered our admission in full, including my mom's admission (we saved $33!)

The museum has changed so much from what I remember from my own (very fond) childhood visits; there are some truly amazing exhibits, in particular the hands-on exhibits meant to teach kids about their bodies.  Abbey and Dyl are both a little young for the main museum, but Abbey loves wandering around, watching the older kids, and playing as much as she can.

Some of her favorite things were plucking the giant guitar, raising and dropping little parachutes via a pulley system, and going down the intestine slide (and yes, it said Poop! at the end of it).

Museum memberships can be a little expensive upfront, but this visit was just another reason that I believe they are definitely worth the cost.  I'd like to think that by exposing my kids to these things from a young age that I'm planting seeds of curiosity that will sprout into a lifetime love of learning.

A mom can hope, right?

checking out the preschool area 

Abbey loves school buses

she's pretty sure she's taking one to preschool in the fall

this is the closest she'll get to riding one for a while!  

driving a car

this was Dylan's favorite exhibit, but I didn't get a picture of him driving