There was a rare sighting (Okay, the *only* sighting. . . so far.) of both of your Borderline Savage co-pilots together this weekend. I know some people think that we are one in the same person, but we are actually two people. We have photographic proof:
That's us, with my kids. We went to the members-only preview of the new Lost Egypt exhibit at the Museum of Science. There was a nice staff member at the entrance of the exhibit taking this photos. If she had used a different camera angle, it wouldn't be so obvious that we were in the museum, but what can you do. Nancy's son declined to be photographed, and he definitely didn't have anything to do with this off-kilter photo.
We weren't allowed to take photos inside the exhibit, but we all had fun, and I'd highly recommend it. We had a second grader, a fifth grader, and a high school junior with us, and there was something there for everyone. It was nice to go to the preview because it wasn't too crowded. There are some cool activities that we were able to enjoy without having to wait forever in line. Unlike some other Egyptian exhibits, this wasn't too morbid for my kids, either.
While we were there, we touched a little bit upon why this exhibit was different from most Egyptian exhibits you see in museums, and that was a topic that we discussed further when we got home. Most exhibits about ancient Egypt focus on the art (Indeed, Boston's collection of Egyptian antiquities resides in the Museum of Fine Arts.) or on the history (As in the fabulous collection at the British Museum.). The Museum of Science's exhibit was the first I've seen that really focused on the science behind ancient Egypt: how the giant stone blocks were moved when the pyramids were constructed, how hieroglyphics were decoded, how pottery shards are put back together to form vessels, and how modern diagnostic tools (CT scans, x-rays, forensic facial resconstruction, etc...) can be used to tell us how ancient people looked, lived, and died. Nancy and I both agreed that the ancient Egyptians could have used more dairy in their diets. They seemed to have a lot of issues with their teeth and bones.
One of the best moments (for me) of the day was when we were in the museum lobby having a little refreshment break. The names of some pioneers in the various sciences are engraved in the walls, and Nancy's son was reading some of the names and filling us in on what their contributions to science. When we reached Marie Curie, both Nancy and I said we liked her because she was Polish. Jinx!
I think the other possible highlight of the trip was when we were in the planetarium and my son asked why we had tickets that said Child and Adult for the planetarium show. I told him that we have a family membership to the museum and it admits two adults and three children. His response was to look at Nancy and me and ask,"Are you gay?" Apparently, my efforts to let my kids know that it's okay to love who you want have had the unintended consequence of my eight year old believing that I am romantically involved with *any* adult I know. There could be worse problems.
After the museum, we went to Kelly's Roast Beef, a Boston institution. If you eat roast beef in Boston, you have to eat it at Kelly's. I'm not even a big fan of roast beef and I love Kelly's. My little guy got a second burst of energy because after lunch, as we were driving Nancy and her son to the station so they could depart for home, he treated us all to an original song called, "Mommy Had a Mohawk." I wish I had recorded it, because he was in fine form. Everyone in the car was laughing, and my daughter laughed so hard that she cried. I have to admit, I was tearing up a bit while I was laughing. We requested a command performance at my dad's birthday dinner later that night, and the little dude couldn't remember it, so that gem has been lost to history.
We had such a great time, I wish I could have kidnapped Nancy and her son and kept them for the weekend. We did a lot of other cool stuff that I wish they could have done with us. Suffice it to say, this was the first time we've been seen in public together but it is most definitely NOT the last time.
