Big Dead Dinosaurs

I can't express enough how much our kids love dinosaurs right now. It's a constant topic of discussion at our house. Ava has even decided to trade in her "Princess and the Frog" birthday party for a dinosaur one. That's saying something.

Ava's little friend A.J. from her dance class really likes dinos too, so we capitalized on their new obsession and took a trip to the dinosaur museum. A.J. had never been and this was our third trip, so Ava served as the tour guide. I'm very impressed by how well she remembers (and pronounces) the names of dinosaurs and little facts about them. However, at one point we came across one that neither of us had heard of to which she exclaimed, "A.J., that's just a big dead dinosaur. Let's move on." Well said.

This time around was especially fun for Jax because he was big enough to play with most of the exhibits.

The favorite was the water play area. It's full of sand, water and little plastic dinosaurs. It's like a kid's dream! Ava and A.J. confiscated all the plastic trees and made a forest for their dinosaurs to roam in.

Jax just hoarded as many dinosaurs as he could in his giant man-hands.

It was all fun until Jax got a bunch of sand in his eye. But, he was such a trooper as I held him down and stuck my finger into his eye to retrieve the sand. However, this wouldn't be the first time I had to do this. Read on...

A giant scale that compared their weight to a dinosaur's.

Hangin' out on Protoceratops.

Ava and her very favorite dinosaur, Triceratops... or what's left of him.
This is what he gives me when I ask him to smile. Goofball!
The girls kept calling this guy "Bruce," as in the name of the shark in Nemo. Jax just kept saying, "Big... Shark!"

And for the grand finale, the dig! A giant mock-dig site where the kids make like paleontologists and use little brushes in search of bones.


As one might assume, this is also where Jax got MORE sand in his eye. He got sick of all the digging business and thought throwing sand to be much more appealing. However, his plan backfired when he tossed a handful of sand right into his eye. He wasn't so calm about it this time around, screaming, wiggling and using his sand-covered hands to rub his sand-infested eyes. It did not go well. After a few minutes I got most of it out, but when we got to the car I noticed his eye was red and swollen. I was prepared to take him to the doctor, but at some point in the car he began crying and within a few minutes the swelling had gone down. Problem solved.

We love this place! It's fun and education and satiates my kids' need for all things dinosaur. I wonder if they have something like this in Vicksburg, MS. I'm not counting on it!