This weekend my family traveled up DC to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, a fabulous exhibit on display now through March 31, 2010 at the National Geographic Museum.  As we talked about it, my husband realized he had a high school friend, Sadie Quarrrier, who worked there for the magazine.  When he contacted her she told us she would be happy to show us around the magazine.  I have read National Geographic from cover to cover virtually every month since we started getting a subscription when I was a kid.  I was thrilled.  Sadie is a photo editor and walked us through amazing photos from a story that ran in the November issue on the Stone Forest of Madagascar.  All of the photos were beautiful and I can only imagine how hard it is to decide on which photos can make it into the magazine.  Sadie also showed us how a story is brought to life from conception to publication, showing us upcoming issues that were currently being laid out and explaining some of the difficult decisions that come with each issue.  My kids carefully listened and now have a great appreciation for what it takes to bring National Geographic’s stories to life.  I know my youngest has been bitten by the photography bug, she used all of the batteries in her camera over the weekend.

On the way home I realized what a wonderful opportunity Sadie had given us and started to think about who else we might know.  I know my kids would love to tour a factory, visit a Navy ship, have a pilot or flight attendant show them the inside of a cockpit, see the inside of an operating room or even visit a bank vault.

Thank you so much Sadie!  Maybe one of my kids will grow up to be a writer, photographer or conservationist.

You can get a year of National Geographic for $15!

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