field trip!

I've been going on as many field trips as possible throughout my kids school years and I have to say as Kyle gets older, the trips are much more interesting (can't say I'll miss those farm trips once Leah is done with kindergarden!).  Today I joined Kyle and his class on a trip to the ROM downtown Toronto.  Since I absolutely detest have an aversion to yellow school bus rides I opted to drive Kyle and I down myself.  To avoid downtown rush hour and parking we parked at the mall and took the subway since there's a stop right beside the museum.

We made it through the whole ROM and the kids really seemed to enjoy all of the exhibits.  Kyle especially liked the ancient Egyptian area because he has read the Kane Chronicles (he's a fan of all Rick Riordan books). 

Unfortunately some guides called in sick today which meant our groups went without the 1 hour guided tour as planned.  But we would walk slowly past each guided tour we came across and listen in.  The kids also did a lab in the classroom all about Mayan Civilization (to tie in with their current curriculum). 


I enjoyed walking around, although my feet were a bit tired by the end of the day.  I haven't been to the ROM in ages so it was nice to walk around and enjoy with just older kids who are able to read all the descriptions and learn while they go.  Enjoying our lunch outside in the sunshine reminded me I need to plan a picnic lunch for Leah soon.

This area was pretty neat because each display case had a touch screen in front with a picture of the contents.  Then you click on any of the stones to get a detailed description including chemical composition and closeup picture.

Here Kyle is holding the oldest rock you can hold in your hands...it is 4.7 billion years old!  This is one of 12 that fell from space and landed in Australia a few thousand years ago.  This rock was created at the same time the planets were formed...pretty cool to be holding that in your hand.

Kyle was asked to participate in a short photo shoot the museum was doing to promote a new type of app-based exhibition this summer...he might be included in one of the guides or some of their promotional material (I had to sign a release)...so keep your eyes open for him if you are at the ROM this summer.

wouldn't want to come across any of these guys in a dark alley...

I found Kyle like this reading the information about this particular cross and the Byzantine period.  At first I thought he was praying based on his pose but when I asked he said he was just reading.  I thought it looked interesting how he was posed with his hand on the glass.

Yes, please!

One of my favourite exhibits...a gold and gem necklace designed by Paloma Picasso (daughter of THE Picasso).  She has been designing jewellery for Tiffany since 1980 and this is part of her signature X's and O's line.