A step back in time...

Last weekend we used the free tickets we received in the mail (not sure if it's because Ryan is a history teacher or if it's because we are just lucky like that) to visit the Indiana Historical Society.  I have to admit that I was not really looking forward to going.  Ryan and I went a long time ago (maybe soon after we were married?), and as interesting as it was, I didn't really think the kids would enjoy it. 

So I was wrong.  They have done a lot of updates to make it more interactive, and the kids really did have a fun time.   They had a touch screen that Jack and Caroline had fun playing with and exploring different areas of Indiana. 

Don't they look so cute?  Jack does so well with Caroline.

They also had these areas where you literally stepped through pictures.  They had pictures projected onto very light water mist so you could see it and step through it, as if you are stepping into that moment in time.  It's sort of hard to explain, but when you would go through it, there were actors playing the people in the picture, and you could interact with them by asking questions about their lives, etc.  Jack's favorite one was a speech given by Robert Kennedy in Indianapolis the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot.  I think he liked it because it was more like a video.

There was also a jail cell for a bootlegger.  Jack wore the police officer's hat and all the kids hung out in the cell next to the inmate's.  We didn't really explain what a bootlegger was--not sure they would have understood anyway.

Another fun thing we did was learn how the museum restores historical documents.  We practiced some of the methods by repairing tears in envelopes, and the boys did really well with it.  Caroline tolerated being in the same location with not much to do pretty well also.

Caroline wanted to get in on the action and kept putting one of the tools into the wet sponge.  I figured there were worse things she could be doing, but Jack looks like he was making sure she was not messing anything up!

I helped Jack smooth out some of the tissue paper you use to make the repairs while the museum worker helped Grant.

We will probably go back at some point when they change the pictures.  I would definitely recommend it as something to do--not quite the children's museum, but a nice change of pace for us!