BYU's Museum of Paleontology

 We had to go to Provo recently to do some errands, and we thought that we'd try to find something fun for the kids to do. We decided to go visit the BYU Museum of Paleontology, which is open Monday through Friday from 9-5.

 Desert Boy was delighted as soon as we stepped in the door. We could see dinosaur skeletons everywhere!

 I was impressed with the Icthyosaur fossil, which is the state fossil for Nevada.

 I had never seen fossilized dinosaur eggs before, so that was really cool.

 The Dimetrodon looked really neat.

 The kids could identify this fossil as a pterodactyl, stars of the PBS show Dinosaur Train.

 The scutes on this dinosaur were impressive.

 I couldn't resist getting the kids to pose for a photo with the T-rex skull. Yummy!

 The Allosaurus, the state fossil of Utah, towered over the exhibit hall.

The museum isn't huge, but there was hardly anyone in it, so we got to take our time and enjoy it. We even went through the museum twice to make sure we hadn't missed anything. (Ha! We go through museums at a rapid speed, so I was able to read a few more signs on the second trip through. We'll still need a few more trips to see it all.)

 Although the trilobite display might not have been as dramatic, I was fascinated by all the localities where the trilobites, corals, and other smaller invertebrate fossils had been found. Some were virtually in our backyard (as long as you consider our backyard has about a 100-mile radius).

 The museum is free, but does accept donations--if you're willing to stick your hand into the skull!

This was a really great museum experience for all of us. I am looking forward to going back some day soon.

And if you're interested in paleontology, don't forget to put National Fossil Day, October 13, 2013 on your calendar!

My Thoughts on Cruising

 This will be the last post about our vacation. It was such a wonderful change from the cold and snow that is now limiting our outside time! My brother Andrew organized the family event, and our group was 16 in total. We chose a family-friendly ship, complete with waterslides. After we boarded, it was one of the first things we visited. They had three different sizes of waterslides, from Desert Girl's size, to medium, to really large. And Desert Boy was just tall enough at 42 inches to meet the height requirements, which made him so happy.


I never could figure out how to go fast down the yellow slide, but one of my brothers and sisters-in-law could really whoosh down it. (Thanks to various family members for this photo and several of the following ones.) I was intending to perfect my technique on the At Sea day, but it turned out that it was so windy that day they had the big slide closed.

Here was the view from the tall water slide stairs towards the front of the ship. We were on a five-day four-night itinerary, leaving the afternoon of the first day, spending time in Key West the second day, Cozumel the third day, at sea the fourth day, and returning to port at 8 am the morning of the fifth day.

 We left the port of Miami at 4 p.m., and it was interesting seeing all the tall buildings. I can't imagine what it's like in hurricane season!

 We had two U.S. Coast Guard boats accompany us down the channel, with a guy at a machine gun on each. It was different.


The sun was setting as we left the port, and my brother Ed captured the above photo, with a second cruise ship following us away from the city.

One of the main reasons people go on cruises is to eat, and we quickly found our way to the food.

 Desert Girl discovered her love for butter--with a little bread to go along with it. She got to put her own butter on her roll, and some meals didn't consist of much more than that for her.

 In addition to three meals a day available in the formal dining room, there was also a main buffet and several other places to eat. And in case you're hungry at some strange time, pizza and ice cream were available 24 hours a day. Desert Boy ate ice cream four times one day and thought he was in heaven.

 Croissants need a little extra butter, right?

 The ship had a mini golf course, but both times we used it the wind was blowing so hard that it was really hard to play.

 The kids thought it was great fun anyway.

 We went to a variety of shows, such as comedy and singing and dancing. We had some members of our group chosen to go up on stage for a couple of the shows, which made it extra fun to watch.

 One event we went to was towel folding. You may see fancy-folded towels if you come visit us!

 Desert Boy and Desert Girl both enjoyed Camp Carnival. Desert Boy went several times and came back with various projects, including some sand art and a t-shirt he colored. Desert Girl's favorite was a crown she got so that she could be a princess.

 The upper berth became a hangout space. Some of the rooms can technically hold up to five people, but I'd say that would be crowded. We managed fine with two adults and two little kids in our room.

 We all liked hanging out at the back of the ship, where the wind wasn't as strong and we could relax and look at the seemingly endless ocean.

 A collection of towel animals. The service throughout the ship was attentive and polite.

 Desert Girl giving her towel bear a hug.

 I would have liked to have spent more time in Cozumel, but overall the cruising experience was pleasant. We got to have lots of family time and had a variety of activities. I probably wouldn't do it every year, but I'd consider it again in a few years. One of the best parts of the trip was relaxing in warm weather--I so much enjoyed outside time with family when I knew it was so cold back home. We might have to find another warm destination for next winter!

A Celebration of Birds--John James Audubon Exhibition

We went into Ely to get ready for some Christmas festivities. One of our stops was to the ever-favorite East Ely Railroad Museum, located at the Nevada Northern Railway. I had seen flyers about an exhibition of John James Audubon and The Birds of America exhibition. While the kids watched The Polar Express, my husband and I enjoyed the marvelous paintings.

Many paintings showed birds we see in the area, like an osprey and a white-headed eagle, now known as a bald eagle. I didn't know much about John James Audubon, so I appreciated the information provided.

Audubon was born in Haiti (with a different name) and raised in France and didn't come to the U.S. until he was 18, in 1803. Lands west of the Mississippi had just been sold to the U.S. by France as a condition of the Louisiana Purchase. Audubon explored these frontier lands, collecting and drawing birds of these places. He had little formal training in birds or drawing, but his close attention to detail helped him immensely. He was also a very good hunter, and he shot the birds before he drew and painted them. In the 1830s, Audubon began commenting on the decline of some birds from overhunting, namely passenger pigeons. His name began to be associated with conservation.

The painting above shows ivory-billed woodpeckers. Another showed passenger pigeons. When I look at the paintings I'm sad that I'll never get to see these birds in real life.

The above painting showed a bird I saw recently on our trip: an anhinga, known better in the 1800s as
the black-bellied darter.

The exhibit will be at the East Ely Railroad Museum until January 6. It's free! Open 8-4:30 every day but Tuesday. They have a really nice brochure that goes with the exhibition and has a map of Important Bird Areas in Nevada and activities for kids, as well as a guide to bird identification.

To read a little more about how the exhibition came to be, here's an article in the Elko Daily Free Press.

Key West

 On our four-night cruise from Miami we had two port stops: Key West and Cozumel. I had previously visited Key West and hadn't found that much that excited me. Knowing the kids would be happiest to dig in the sand, I decided that the best place for us to go would be Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. The cruise ship docked at the Navy pier, and from there we could catch free shuttles to downtown. Our helpful shuttle driver let us off right by the entrance to the state park.

 The state park included the remnants of a fort that was built on a key, but over time fill materials had annexed it to the mainland. The fort was originally three-stories tall, but the upper two stories had been removed, leaving it not quite as imposing. Nevertheless, the large structure still had a lot of bricks.

 And a lot of cannons. This was an important defensive position during the 1800s.

 Desert Boy thoroughly inspected one cannon.

 Our cruise ship wasn't far away, but because we had to go through the almost-retired Navy restricted area, we had to go a roundabout way to tour the fort.

It was hot and muggy, and what we really wanted to see was the beach, so we didn't stay long.

 We saw a couple huge iguanas on the fort as we continued on our short walk to the beach.

 The beach has both sand and some rocky areas. The first rocky area I snorkeled by I didn't see any fish. Fortunately another rocky area did have some fish.

 Desert Boy couldn't wait to go clamber on the rocks. I followed, wincing as my sore feet came in contact with the sharp rocks. It turned out that the rocks were quite interesting.

 They had tons of fossils! Way cool!

 The water was a nice respite from the heat. I wasn't used to being able to go swimming and not come out cold.

 We watched another cruise ship heading to the pier. We were the only one there that morning, so the beach wasn't very busy.

 On the way back, we crossed the road by the state park entrance and went to the Florida Keys Eco-discovery Center, a facility sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The shuttle driver had told us it was free--and air-conditioned. Sounded good to me. (It's hard to believe that I'm writing about air conditioning when it's barely above freezing outside my house right now!) I didn't know anything about this center, as my Internet searches about what to do in Key West hadn't turned up information about it.

 The center has a number of displays about different habitats, such as the mangrove coastlines and the coral reef. The kids loved looking at the fish.

 They also had a mock up Aquarius, the only under-ocean laboratory. Desert Boy was thrilled to go in and press buttons.

 We met up with other family members, who had taken the shuttle to Mallory Square, walked along Duval Street, went to the southernmost point in the U.S., and then met us at the state park. It was a very pleasant day, and if anyone is wondering what to do in Key West that is good for kids and not expensive, I would definitely recommend these sites. I have to admit the parasailing looked like a lot of fun--but that will have to wait for another trip!

I think living in the desert makes me appreciate the abundance of water in Florida even more. The ecosystems there are so different and amazing.