Our first OOCAC adventure

OOCAC (Oma-Opa Craft & Adventure Club) was our gift to the grandsons this year.  In lieu of the usual glut of Christmas presents, we decided we'd plan either an outing or a creative craft for each month.  Pete and I had a lot of fun coming up with the adventures and crafts.  On Christmas Day we gave them a calendar with a sealed envelope for each month.  In each envelope is the appointed "treat" for the month.  January was an adventure month (adventure and craft months alternate) and the destination of the adventure was the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.  

It was a lovely day for an adventure - clear and cold.  We arrived at our destination shortly before 11 and discovered that we practically had the museum to ourselves.  

The boys studied the map and quickly picked out areas they wanted to visit - first were ancient Egypt and the underground adventure (where we were "shrunk" to about 1/2 inch in size to see what the soil and its structure and organisms would look like).  

Of course Sue, the famous T Rex, was also an attraction.

We thought the boys might get bored after a few exhibits but they definitely did not!  After a late lunch (which is usually our pre-departure stop) they wanted to visit two more exhibits and then "just one more".  We finally tore them away at 3 pm with the promise of future visits, thanks to our membership for the rest of the year.  It was such a pleasure to take them and they are just the right age to engage with the exhibits.  I wish I knew what had sunk into their consciousness and made impressions on them but those are the questions best left unasked.  Time will tell.  I think Oma and Opa enjoyed the outing every bit as much as the boys.  As my mom used to say, "Let's go make some memories!"