The Bishop Museum

Today we explored the Bishop Museum in downtown Honolulu with some friends of ours.

The Bishop Museum is home to the world's largest collection of Polynesian artifacts.

It was built in honor of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last surviving descendant of the Kamehameha dynasty. Many family heirlooms from the royal lineage are now on display at the museum.There are many displays that the adults were truly enthralled by:

Ancient tribal carvings

Ceremonial masks

Costumes for ceremonial dancing

Mourning dresses

One of the problems with going to a museum with Kerry and the kids is that Kerry likes to read pretty much every word about every item on display.

He is a fiend for history knowledge and is always seeking to add trivia facts to the already extensive historical info in his brain.

The kids usually whiz through a room, look at all the items on display, read very little, and then go park themselves on a bench until Kerry is done.

Fortunately there is plenty to entertain the kids as well:

Pretending to be eaten by a giant shark

Laughing at what some poor shark got named

Marveling at handmade fish hooks



An actively erupting "volcano".

Cool representation of the ocean food chain


Slides and silliness


3-D Mountain ranges






Riding giant snails

Then Kerry said, "Let's get a picture of you and me on the snail."

In retrospect, this picture looks dirty.

Look at this picture of us instead.