Dinosaur Land

For Caleb's birthday this year, I tried to encourage some of my family members to do "experiences" as presents instead of toys since we are getting a little over run with play things. Dave and I decided to take Caleb to "A Day Out with Thomas" this June as our main gift to him, but there are so many other fun adventures I know he'd like to try. When my Grandma Nora Ann asked what to buy him for his birthday, I suggested a trip to Dinosaur Land - a local tourist attraction that he begged me to take him to last summer. She agreed to the idea but our outing was postponed due to Granddaddy rehabilitating from his recent knee surgery, busy schedules, and Spring weather that took a long time to show up this year.

Friday morning was beautiful though, our schedules were clear, and everyone was feeling well enough to check out those dinosaurs! Again, I so wish that I had been forward thinking enough to bring the Flip to catch videos of Caleb's excitement inside the park. While I captured some great facial expressions in these photos, they just don't give the full version of his little self bubbling over with joy to be there. He could hardly even stop to look at one dinosaur at a time because he was so overwhelmed with excitement to check out the rest. You can definitely tell from his body language in these shots that he was having the time of his life.

 

 

 

Caleb was shocked and thrilled to see this large meat eating dinosaur devouring a pteranodon.

They had signs next to the animals to tell visitors how to pronounce their names and give a little information about each such as what they liked to eat and features unique to each one.

 

 

 

 

This attack was definitely a favorite. The big triceratops were trying to protect the baby.

 

Hadley enjoyed the park too but she was more excited about a pine cone she found and carried around a good portion of the way. (Grandma even let her take it home with her when we left.) She was also extremely interested in the rocks that Grandma and I had to keep emptying out of her hands and mouth. Usually. she only uses her pacifier for naps and bed time. but on this trip I think it helped slow her down from eating things she shouldn't have.

 

Although Hadley enjoyed the park, she had a hard time keeping up with her fast paced sibling, who found it difficult to stay on the path and was often scolded to stay with us as he tried to scale root covered hills to get to the next attraction.  Grandma was having a bit of trouble keeping the pace too, so after one loop around the park she suggested that her and Hadley head out while Caleb and I looked a little longer. At first Caleb wanted to go too, thinking he'd see it all, but once we started on our second round and he wasn't held back any more from going all over the place at his own speed, the enthusiasm returned.

So many dinosaurs, so little time!

 

 

 

He kept wanting to ride this one. Too bad Mommy is a rule follower and there were multiple signs warning kids not to climb on the animals.

 

How would you like to have one of those eggs for breakfast?

There was a nice couple following behind us who found Caleb's energy humoring, especially when Caleb and I acted out a scene where he was saving me from one of the dinosaurs. At the end, they took a few pictures of Caleb and I together ready to run from a large Triceratops.

 

 

Not only did Caleb love seeing the dinosaurs, but this was a great opportunity for him to spend with his great grandparents who we don't get to see nearly as much as I'd like due to our busy schedules. Hopefully all of my kids get to have such wonderful experiences for their future birthday presents!