Today we took the kids down to the Springs Preserve to check out the newly opened State History Museum. First we went to the Preserve's Nature exchange so the boys could turn in some sand dollars. While the guy was assessing their items and assigning points, he told Jasen "I'll give you 900 points for this one, and 600 for this smaller one." Without blinking an eye, Jasen says "650." The girl sitting next to the guy working there started giggling, and the guy, looking completely baffled goes "Did you just say 650 to me?" He looked up at me, amused and yet totally bewildered. I just started laughing and shrugged. The guy looks back at Jasen and says "Um, ok. I'll give you 650 for it." You could tell that nobody has ever dared to haggle with him before, and I think he found it pretty funny after being initially caught off guard. What can I say? Jasen is clearly learning his negotiating skills from Pawn Stars, and I have to say, he's off to a great start! So once they were done with their trading, we walked over to the museum. It was pretty neat, with a ton of our state's history. They were all really excited to see the huge mammoth, and our state's fossil- an Ichthyosaur, genus Shonisaurus. Tristan and Jasen knew all about it, and proceeded to give me a fossil lesson. Tristan was also quite taken by the showgirl exhibit. He is very impressed that ladies can balance headdresses that size on their heads, while wearing such tiny outfits! The meseum had a lot of cool stuff, and it will be fun to go back and check it all out again.
An Ichthyosaur
