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We love to travel and find new things to do together as a family. This blog shares our thoughts about the places we explore, mainly in the Metropolitan DC area (Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia, sometimes referenced at the DMV). And, occasionally we will write about places we visit on our vacations. Sometimes you just wish someone had told you "Don't waste your time or money" before you went somewhere, or sometimes you're going on vacation and want some insight on family-friendly things to do. We hope this blog will come in handy for you and your family. If you have suggestions for places to visit, please share them with us. Happy reading!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

National Geographic Museum

Happy New Year!!!

Another Groupon purchased months ago with time running out and I didn't even check to see what the current exhibit was or if it would even be something the kids would be interested in, but we HAD to go because I didn't want the deal to go to waste.

Our first visit was to see the TerraCotta Warriors from China. It was a planned trip and we waited in line for about an hour out in the cold (with coffee and hot chocolate) to get in, but it was worth it. It was an amazing exhibit, albeit very crowded. On this visit, finding out online just minutes before arriving that the current exhibit was on 1001 Muslim Inventions and Birds of Paradise, the husbands' and the kids' levels of enthusiasm dropped a notch or two. The 1001 Inventions exhibit started with a short film with Ben Kingsley, serving as an introduction to Muslim contributions to the world. After the film, we went into the display area, which although it was interesting for the adults (and surprisingly the husbands), I think the kids got bored with all the reading after a while. The next exhibit was Birds of Paradise, which initially brings to mind the flowers, but is actually about 39 species of birds found in New Guinea. There were short films, photographs, and interactive displays which we liked very much.

This is a small museum located in DC, but not on the National Mall. It's not one of the free museums but still worth the visit if you're interested in whatever travelling exhibit they have on display. (I recommend you checking online before your visit). It's reasonably priced at $8/adults and $5/kids or include the current 3D movie for just a couple bucks more or you can catch a deal on Groupon or Living Social when it comes around. I don't recommend the museum for small children unless it's an exhibit that is geared towards them as they may lose interest quickly and get bored. The museum is convenient to 2 metro lines Farragut North (red line) and Farragut West (blue/orange lines), or you can drive around and try to find street parking.

http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/locations/center/museum/
Kid's View: "I actually like this museum. This was my second time going. I really liked the Birds of Paradise exhibit because it had interactive things and the birds were cool The 1001 Inventions part had too much reading but I liked the movie and the part where it showed English to Arabic translations. The last time I came here it was to see the TerraCotta Warriors exhibit which was really cool and even cooler because I got to see them again when we went to China on vacation last summer."


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