fighting cabin fever

Today, my goal was to get out of the room (house) and do something with the children that wasn't just watching tv or a movie. It would have been nice to do something outside, but it's raining, so I'm sure we would have melted ;)

We went to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

It was pretty cool. A few weeks ago, there was something on the news about a sea star fossil that was found, which was 15 million years old.

Thinking I'd send the children on a hunt, I told them that the first one to find me something in the museum that was 15 million years old would get a treat (Kit Kat bar).

Man, before we even walked in, Maggie found an outside display of fossilized wood that said it was 15 million years old! Then, she found the sea star inside also. So, Maggie got to have a double treat.

Lilly found a pretty block of petrified wood that was also 15 million years old.

Josh kept looking, but didn't find anything exactly that age, although there were many artifacts older. He helped me though, so he also got a treat, albeit a smaller treat.

There was a pretty fossil flower that was 50 million years old, and a fossilized fern that was 300 million years old! And, it was cool to see things that were 520 million years old (cystoids), and a billion years old (another outside display, this time of fossilized sandstone, I think).

There were some beautiful gemstones, neat skulls, stuffed birds, dinosaur skeletons, clovis points from East Wenatchee, and so many other really cool things. Emu feathers are gorgeous.

Josh and Maggie received letters from their classes.

I took a picture of Maggie reading her letters when she received them. It was the day she was sick. She was so miserable, but still was able to drag up some energy and strength to read through them.