Goings on

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

During Christmas break, little man and I had the chance to visit some of our favorite local attractions!

First up: Nature-Made Christmas at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. Clay LOVES this place, and I've been taking him there since he was an infant. (When I just HAD to get out of the house, we'd make a trip there. I'd park him in front of the big aquariums, and he'd be completely mesmerized for an hour or so. When he got a little older, he played in the toddler playroom. Since then, we love all the exhibits, and the kid runs wild on the trails out back!)

Santacizing at the Mississippi Children's Museum!

During Nature-Made Christmas, he made ornaments out of pine cones, leaves, recycled paper, and more. We hung all the ornaments on our tree when we got home. He was so proud!

We also got to enjoy the reptiles exhibit, which we hadn't seen since the preview party several months ago. And, because we have *special* friends at the museum, we got a behind-the-scenes experience - a chance to feed some persimmon to a BIG tortoise named Pete! (Clay is still talking about it!)

We also visited the Mississippi Children's Museum for their annual Santa Institute. Several scientists gathered and took questions from the kids about how Santa gets around the whole world in one night, how he knows if you're bad or good, and how he stays in shape for his demanding work. It was fun and sweet to watch their little minds come up with stumpers! To get their little bodies up and moving around, we Santacized at the end. Adorable!

Lego Jackson is sooooo detailed!

Lego Jackson was once again on view in the Mississippi Arts Center, and it was even bigger than last year! Little man thought this was awesome and thanked me several times for taking him. (Plus, it's FREE! What's not to love?!) A local man puts together THOUSANDS of Lego bricks to create this exhibit. You can see the Standard Life Building, Bailey Magnet School, City Hall, and other recognizable Jackson landmarks, as well as some fun additions! They provide a "hunt list" for guests, and we enjoyed peering extra-close to try and find the characters listed on it.

The Bethlehem Tree at the Mississippi Museum of Art

And on the same day we visited Lego Jackson, we couldn't resist stopping by the Mississippi Museum of Art to take in the Bethlehem Tree. I love this display, and it has become part of my holiday tradition. At least once during the Christmas season, either on my lunch break, on a weekend, or in the evening, I HAVE to go by and see it. While we were there, we also took a quick trip through the current exhibit - A Trip to Italy with Wyatt Waters and Robert St. John. This is a sienna, sun-soaked collection of water colors that will have you booking your plane tickets across the pond in no time. It made me miss, miss, MISS Rome! (Oddly enough, no paintings of the cases in pastry shops, filled with goodies. I WILL have to send Wyatt an email . . . )