american museum of natural history

saved the best for last.

the american museum of natural historyis great any time of year, but it's particularly enjoyable around christmas time. the T-rex topiaries out front are very festive, but the origami tree inside is where the magic's at.

500 folded animals. not to mention the orbiting stars. this was the primary objective of the trip, and our time frame was limited, so we carefully planned an attack of some old favorites: african mammals, north american birds, primates, eastern woodland indians, pacific peoples, biodiversity, ocean life, north american forests

what we didn't see this time, but are a must if it's your first visit: guggenheim hall of minerals, north american mammals, the planetarium, south and central america, asian peoples and mammals. and of course all the dinosaurs on the top floor. it would be my favorite place on the planet if it weren't filled with screaming kids- nuclear meltdowns everywhere you look. it's worth it though, cause you get to see stuff like this: