Dinosaur World

Last Thursday the whole family got to go with Gus' school to Dinosaur World! How perfect for our little herd of Dorkosauruses? Needless to say each of us enjoyed it a little too much. Gus got to hang out with his best buddies while gawking at giant skeletons.



We all dug for fossils and could even keep up to three.







We hiked down a wooded trail where at any turn we could come face to face with terrible lizards bigger than the bus they rode in on.





And finally we wound our way back to the themed playground with dinosaurs of a more manageable size.




The only way I could get them in the same frame was to set up the shot and be patient. I know what a wildlife photographer feels like. Gus is nothing but go go go, while Brenna likes to mix in a little make-believe coffee shop.



Next stop was right up the road at The Dinosaur Vally State Park. This is where, back in the 1940's, scientists found excellently preserved fossilized foot prints of sauropods, like a brachiosaurus, seemingly being chased by theropods, like the T-Rex. The evidence inspired a pretty revolutionary hypothesis that these cold blooded predators were very fast and hunted in packs. To get to these ancient tracks one has to cross a river. We had no idea we were going to be swimming. So in we go, fully clothed.











Nobody had a better time than Garrett. This was his first opportunity to be in cold, rushing river water and play in gritty, sticky mud and he clearly fits right in with this family.





How incredible to think he is placing his tiny hand in an impression left by a baby 'long neck', an adorable Littlefoot? In the exact same place, but separated by one hundred and thirteen million years.

It was a really fun trip, at least for this family of Dorkosauruses.

Let's Party

I start each day off with such lofty aspirations, adults plans, big time stuff. Today I'm going to tackle the 'paper box', a 75 gallon plastic tub over-flowing with junk mail to sort, forms to fill out, and *gasp* some of Garrett's straggling medical bills (it's ok, they're not the real ones printed on yellow paper, just the ones they send out as a courtesy, to RSVP the yellow ones). But Gus had planed a cereal party. He 'decorated' his castle tent with blankets, books, stuffed animals, party hats and a 'table' so we would have a place to set our cups of cereal amid hazardous waves of scrunched up blankets. We sang songs and contorted our faces, stretching our tongues, trying to pluck stuck cheerios off of our nose.







Ben and Brenna were in town grocery shopping. Garrett was napping. It's been a reprehensibly long spell since I spent some one on one time with my oldest. So the paper box can wait. and wait and wait.

Garrett has grown 4 gnarly chompers, every boobs worst nightmare. The rest of him is developing just as quickly. He's days away from walking. He hardly seems like a baby, with his scientific experiments and sophisticated humor. No silly poop jokes for him. And he has such a know-it-all grin.

Check out that mullet!

We spend a lot of time on the front porch enjoying the mid-afternoons, when the sun is high and hot. But in the shade of our home, on our breezy little hill, it feels like paradise.





Best baby sitter ever.