Booth Western Art Museum

Yesterday we took the girls to the Booth Western Art Museum. I decided to make this visit because Kira has recently become enamored with pioneer life. As a way of expanding her exposure, we decided to go to the local Western Museum. Of course, it didn't hurt that the museum has a monthly FREE day that just happened to be yesterday.

We started with the American West Gallery where we saw sculptures and paintings and a real stage coach. We also visited the Cowboy Gallery that was filled to the brim with pictures and sculptures of horses. This was probably Kira's favorite art exhibit because she adores anything to do with horses. We moved on to the Heading West Gallery where we viewed paintings of the westward expansion and played with the "touchables" that are set out in the various galleries for the kids to play with.

Our final stop was the Sagebrush Ranch. The Ranch is an educational playground where the children can play and learn. There is a dress up section filled with western style clothes. There's a library section with about 50 different books to read, complete with comfortable bean bag chairs to lounge on and a loft bed to climb into for reading privacy. (We're definitely going to build a bed like that in the girls' bedroom so they can have separate beds in that tiny space.) The Ranch also has two different computer stations where the kids can play games.

The highlight of the ranch was the stage coach replica that bounced along with a TV screen that shows a wild west scene as you "ride" in the coach. Marisa was in that coach a few dozen times before we finally left the room. In fact, the girls would have gladly stayed another hour or two had the adults not demanded that dinner was much more necessary than spending yet another hour at The Ranch. This alone would be worth paying the normal admission price. I'm glad they have a FREE day, though. It's nice for families to be able to visit even if they don't have the money to pay. Trust me - when you have multiple adults and multiple children making a visit to the museum, that admission fee can add up really quickly.

I believe we will make every First Thursday of the Month our Booth Museum day. Even though we spent more than two hours in the museum, we still missed a few of the exhibits. We definitely have to go back to play at the Sagebrush Ranch, too.