Buyers remorse and the coolest museum in Leiden

 In my post about Klaus's birthday I described my intentions to get his first year pictures taken at a corny Sears-type portrait studio. I have had success!...well kind of. I ended up taking Leif and Klaus to one of those pop-up photography studios in the lobby of a local grocery store. The deal is that the photo shoot costs only 2.50 Euro and that entitles you to one free 5x7 photo. Your free photo and an optional photo package can be picked up 2 weeks later at the same grocery store. You do not get to choose the photos or sizes for the optional package but you can pick and choose among what they come up with. I was willing to take a chance on this. The photographer was incredibly nice and, while the Klaus wasn't on his best photo shoot behavior, I was pretty sure she had gotten some good shots. Last Wednesday I excitedly went to the grocery to get our pictures. And all afternoon I beat myself up over how stupid I had been.The photos came out ok but the photo studio picked out mostly ones of Leif for the optional package. I guess I should have told the photographer that I was mostly interested in getting photos of Klaus. So you say "Ok just don't buy them." But for whatever reason (I should never make decisions right before lunch) I bought all 7 sheets. So you say "Ok seven sheets. That can't be too much especially since the package is advertised as 50% off the real price." The package was 99 Euro ($130). The instant I bought them I knew I had made a mistake. I asked the woman if I could order more pictures of Klaus (there are not enough in the original package to give as Christmas gifts to the grandparents and great grandparents). She gave me a code where I could go online and see the rest of the photos and order more. Here is where I started to feel a bit scammed- there were better pictures of Klaus in the online photo bank that they had not printed and included in the photo package. So you say "Ok just order some of those" Well you do not get the 50% price when you order them online. My motherly guilt was so stifling that I was ready to plunk down another $87 to get the photos I thought Klaus deserved. But sanity kicked in- I've been scammed so I feel justified in copying the photos I bought on my photo printer when we get home. Take that Kids Profi Portrait! So you say "Juls, aren't you an artist? Shouldn't you be sympathetic to this modern method of portraiture? You liked the photographer. Don't you want her to be able to make a living this way? This is the cost of it." Arrgh! Ok ok. I will buy some more. Just don't tell Kurt.

Dr and Dr Andrsen's discount home surgery

Mermaid Klaus

  Enough of that. I want to tell you about the coolest museum in Leiden. The Museum Boerhaave, is the Dutch National Museum of Science and Medicine. It is located in central Leiden in the 15th century Caecilia Nunnery/Hospital. We had not visited it until now because we figured an early science and medicine museum would probably not be all that interesting to children. Some time ago the museum must have figured this out as well and they have made some of the most awesome kid centered exhibits ever. As we expected, there is a very adult section of the museum containing old inventions and medical supplies displayed in glass cabinets with labels. But there is also Treasure Island, an interactive exhibit for kids age 8-12 that looks like it was designed by Terry Gilliam (of Monty Python fame) and Edward Gorey. Everything was in Dutch at a higher level than Kurt or I can read yet but it was still very entertaining. The exhibit is all about exploration and early science and was inspired by the Dutch Golden Age. There were lots of bizarre devices that made taxidermied animals move, the stem of a ship complete with figure head (well minus the head- see photo), a sea filled with sea monsters, and cabinets displaying old medical devices. There was a section on celestial navigation and several computer stations where you had to answer questions in order to earn stamps on your map (luckily you did not have to answer the questions right on the first try).
  Outside, in the building's fabulous courtyard, are several interactive displays that teach physics principles but are also just plain fun. Luckily Kurt was there to explain them. Otherwise I would have just assumed they were sculptures that I didn't understand.
  Up stairs is the Vindingrijk (Resourceful), an interactive exhibit that demonstrates the inventions and observations of Christiaan Huygens, a Golden Age mathematician and philosopher who studied at Leiden University. Among other things, Huygens developed the pendulum clock, an early projector, a microscope, and the leaf spring carriage. In the exhibit kids can play with/in a pendulum clock, a gear wall, a marble run wall, a rocket ship, and a Huygens style telescope, projector and microscope. There is also a gigantic Rube Goldberg type tower were kids can crank up a bucket of balls to the top and then watch them dribble down to the bottom in a series of complicated tubes and drops. Surrounding the exhibit are banners of drawings from Huygens sketchbooks that very much resemble DaVinci's journals. Huygens appears to have been of a similar mind to the great artist and inventor. Unfortunately the exhibit only runs until the end of Octomber but I can't wait to see what they have next!