Liam in the Living Museum

in #photography5 years ago (edited)

On April 6, 2019 I decided to have a father and son bonding moment. Since we live in Virginia, our options were limited with a two year old so I decided to ask my son where he wanted to go. His answer, "mu ji eum." Translated: Museum. As I didn't want to be too far away from my wife, just in case she needed us to come back in a hurry, we decided to take a trip to the VA, Living Museum. This is by far my son's favorite place, and on this day there was a special event. Small farms brought a petting zoo to the museum and my son had a blast. Of course I needed to document these moments so I decided to pick up my camera and snap a couple of pictures.

Statuebb
My son trying to act like a statute was cute. FYI this is his favorite statute.

Once we made our way inside, my son wanted to look at all the fish in the tank. Of course being the two year old he is, he decided he wanted to make his way and try to climb into the fish tank to touch the water. And of course... I had to snap a picture to prove it to his mother.

liamtank
Sadly this one was a little out of focus as it is impossible to keep a 2yr still. However, I still loved the colors and decided to keep it.

liamfishtank
Liam climbing into the tank. I still wonder if he would have made it all the way in if I didn't stop him. Also, for someone who is afraid of swimming, he is really fearless when it comes to diving (literally) headfirst into any type of water.

After He got tired of playing with all the fish, we decided to head out to see what kind of animals were in the petting zoo. I surmised that Liam would be too scared to touch any of the animals, as Liam is very very shy. However, he proved me wrong. Although he was awkward at first, I am proud to say that no animal was left unpetted (Just coined a new word here).

Liamturtle
Of course we had to start out small. Even then it took around 5 minutes before he was comfortable enough to touch the turtle. Even then, he ran away right at contact.

Liampigbb
You can feel the awkwardness and the fear in this picture. This pig was alone and afraid near the back of the petting zoo and I decided it was time to test Liam and see if he would pet the pig. He did, but wouldn't look at what he was petting directly....

L1002557
Then he was attacked by the goat. I thought this would turn him away from animals for the rest of the day. However, this incident was the one that got him to open up and he spent the next 15-20 minutes trying to mount and pet the goat.

After a while I was done so we went right next to another statute of a bear (as a child it was in his nature to climb said statute). Then we decided to sit along the fountain and rest before our long trek to the parking lot. (By long, we just took the long way around to enjoy the natural scenery.

Liambear
CLIMB CLIMB AWAY BOY!!!! Is it just me or does he fit right in?

Liam-Fountain
Of course while I was taking this I was afraid that he would take the chance and make a break for it into the water.... You can actually see it from his expression... "Hmmmm.... I wonder if I can make it before dad gets me."

Liam1
One final picture as we are taking the walkway/bridge back to the main building.

We had a great time in the living museum. I actually think this is the first time that we went just as father and son. Anyway for those of you that plan on coming to Newport, News/Hampton/Yorktown, Virginia. This place is a must, at least if you have any little children. Also, for those of those that reside in the area, this place is great as we do not have any other main museums unless you want to travel down to Virginia Beach (going through the tunnel is like death itself), or you make the long hour drive up to Richmond. All in all, this place is a great way to kill half a day or a couple of hours and it has become my family's go to place for my son (especially on the weekend when we have nothing to do and he gets restless).

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Lastly, One of my favorite pictures of the day!

Till next time!