Weekend Getaway: Sightseeing

After leaving the family reunion Sunday morning we decided to spend a little bit of time together with just the four of us. Summer is such a busy time for Joel, so he needed a break and we needed some time with him! On the way out of Texas we stopped at Cabela's. I had never even heard of this store until we visited our friends in Arizona last year and Daniel took Joel to the one there. Joel told me it was better than Bass Pro Shop, so I was excited to get to visit one and so were the girls. They loved it. We didn't buy anything but we enjoyed seeing all of the different wildlife they had on display there.

Entrance

Huge Moose

Leopard (one of my favorites)

Rhino & Zebras

Lily, Daddy & Zora with the elephant!

Hyenas (these give me the creeps!)

Artic animals

I loved the forest room. The scenes were beautiful and peaceful and the animals looked so graceful.

After leaving Cabela's we drove to Norman and got a hotel for the night. We swam in the pool until it closed and then slept in a little the next morning and caught the complimentary breakfast just before it closed! Then we headed off to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History on the OU campus. It was our lucky day because it is FREE admission if you go on the first Monday of each month! We didn't know that going in, but we sure appreciated that!

There were many wonderful things to see there. We explored the dinosaur bones, the Chocolate display, the hall of Natural Wonders, the Oklahoma People room, and so much more! The only section we completely AVOIDED in the museum was Evolution. In all honesty, my only complaint about this museum is that all commentary in the museum was from the scientific view-point of evolution and there was NOTHING about Creation. While my kids thoroughly enjoyed all the sights and activities, I was very glad that they had no interest in stopping to read in depth about the things there. So, now off my soap box and on to a few fun pictures...

Look at the skull on this thing!!!

Two of the largest dinosaurs in the museum

This elephant statue was huge and the girls wanted to pretend like they were getting squished

An up-close getting-ready-to-be-squished pic

This section of the museum was very interesting. There were many Native American artifacts and the history there was abundant.

The girls sitting in a canoe

With the buffalo

The girls really enjoyed seeing - and TOUCHING - the skins of different animals and trying to guess what animal it once had been.
I think Zora and I enjoyed the Chocolate display the most because the history there was familiar to her from some of our history and geography lessons from last year. However, I couldn't take any pictures in that area of the museum because it was not allowed.

All in all I would recommend this museum - it is relatively cheap admission (and FREE on the first Monday of each month) - BUT if you believe in Creationism - as we do - then don't take the time to read all of the commentary.