Museum of the American West

Yesterday Ryan and I took a field trip to the Museum of the American West located in Griffith Park. It used to be called the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum. We went with a group from APS, our homeschool school. There were about 70 of us total and were broken up into smaller groups. Ryan was in the younger group and learned about the cowboys, one of his favorite subjects. We saw an actual longhorn and buffalo and learned about the chuckwagons and even got to try on a cowboy hat, trenchcoat, bandana and chaps. We also got to go into the Discovery Center, where everything is hands on. It is centered around the life of a Chinese immigrant in the 1930's. There are three different areas the kids can explore, each a part of his life. There was a Chinese antiques store, which he started when he first came to America; a restaurant, which his children later opened; and their home in Hancock Park. It was fun for Ryan to see what life was like in the 30's before big refrigerators and modern telephones. We need much more time to go back and explore all the other parts of the museum!