River Museum and Aquarium

This afternoon we visited the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque.  Eli has been there a few times before, but this was Aliyah's first visit - even adding the word "fish" to her vocabulary during our adventures.  After exploring all the sites, we ended the day with the Extreme Weather 3D movie.  Eli has just recently taken a new interest in natural disasters, especially tornadoes.  He is fascinated by the short clips he discovers on YouTube.  He also requests to watch the weather as part of the news, especially if there is a storm approaching so he can follow its path in relation to our town.  When I realized this was one of the feature films on the day we were planning to be at the museum, I knew he would love it and he did!  I was a bit hesitant about having Lia with us with her reaction to the sounds and effects, but she did pretty well, being most upset with the smoke that billowed out but I quickly learned to shield her eyes from that.  A few of the louder sudden sounds seemed to catch her off guard but overall she watched in wonder at the huge screen (or terror maybe).  Overall, we enjoyed our day together on one of our mini summer trips this year. 

Happy 7th Birthday, Liam!

Mini Fourth of July Party