Rockhounding

As girlie as GirlChild can be, what she really loves to look at and collect are rocks. Unfortunately, most of her private collection has come from the side of the road and flower beds. "Mom...what kind of rock is this?" "Uhhh...that's what we scientifically call a grey rock."
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Since we had an obligation free day, we zoomed up to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to have a peek at their beautiful wing of gems and minerals. If you can time your visit into DC between the rush hours, the traffic isn't too horrendous and since school is still in session you can avoid the massive crowds of summer. That's my personal advice to you on visiting our nation's capital.

With Mission Impossible-like timing, we found an awesome parking spot, ran in as the doors opened and headed straight for the Hope Diamond. Trust me, if you don't hit it first, you'll never get close. By the time we ended our photo session of the diamond, we were knee-deep in oglers. We cruised on over to the rest of the flashy gems which is where I began to appreciate my museum experience with GirlChild. There was none of that silly lets-read-the-plaque-and-learn going on. We'd see a sapphire as big as your fist and go - "Ooooohh....pretty....sparkly...next..." There were LOTS of pretty sparklies, but I was happy to see GirlChild lovingly manhandle more ordinary looking rocks also. After all, they ARE the bread and butter of her collection.
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And my favorite rock:

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The Smithsonian has also added a brand spankin' new butterfly exhibit which we hit next. You can read about the debate here. It's very well done, but a little on the small side.
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We ended with a quick tour of the skeleton wing and then the gift shop where we added something a bit snazzier to GirlChild's collection. These are what I would scientifically call a green rock and a blue rock.
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(Or if you read the card insert: Malachite and Chalcopyrite).

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