Summer of learning

Some of the best times the kids and I have is when we're seeing our town through tourist's eyes - and learning along the way.  Today we visited two museums.  The first is the Texas Memorial Museum on the UT campus - free and kid friendly, as museums go.

There are 4 floors and each has a theme - Geology and paleontology, Gems and a giant Pterosaur, Wildlife and Fish of Texas, and a Hall of Diversity/Evolution.

 

Lots of kids filter through this place.  The building is so old and the campus is so shady with huge trees and the inside is full of things to explore, and did I mention it's free?  And, air-conditioned.

They don't even realize their brains are working and learning - that's the beauty of a museum....shhh.don't tell!

On to the next museum - same campus, about a block away:  The only "free to visit" presidential library in the US of A.  The LBJ Library and museum.  This one is really a place older kids can appreciate - it is huge and full of mementos and history from the 60's and early 70's.  All of the papers from LBJ's presidency are housed here and you and I are allowed to view the documents - all we have to do is request it.

 There is a lot to cover here - but since it's free and parking is too, you can come back more than once.  A short movie plays in the theater.  They have a limo that was in the motorcade when Kennedy was shot.  Photos, letters to the president, lots of cultural artifacts. It really makes history come alive.

And the UT campus is so beautiful - you could spend a day there walking around looking at all the statues and buildings - but wear a good pair of walking shoes as it's uphill and downhill and though it's shady, it's still very hot in Austin in the summer!  OK, boys, time to give your brains a rest and go eat lunch!