Being a kid again at the Indiana State Museum

What fun we had during an afternoon's ramble in the Indiana State Museum! It was almost like being a kid again. Okay, when no one else was looking, it WAS like being a kid again. I was downright gleeful showing John rocks, minerals and fossils in the dimly lit "Birth of the Earth" hall - collecting rocks was one of my big hobbies as a kid and an adult - and John, a former teepee owner, could fill in the blanks for me on the domiciles of ancient peoples in the "Native Americans" section. We were sorry we had to move through it all so fast between our conference sessions, but a few of the high points included:

• Discovering the clever limestone mining display above the fossil hall
• Watching the Foucault pendulum strike down blocks
• Checking out an array of antiques from Indiana's past
• Discovering our childhoods up on the walls in the Pop Culture exhibit

We spent the most time playing in a temporary exhibit on the Science, History, and Culture of Corn. In a state full of cornfields, in a state where we'd eaten more corn in a week than we usually do in a month, learning the history of corn and how corn is used - not just for food - was fun.

Especially when it came to the interactive exhibits. First, John created an explosion with corn. A few minutes later, he discovered what it's like for his farming cousins in the Midwest to drive a harvester.

Gotta love that Foucault Pendulum!

Thanks, Indy, for an afternoon of being a kid in one of the many museums at White River State Park. Here's a few peeks into what we saw and did.