dinsoaur ridge

The second week of October we had a day off of school, so we did a cousins adventure to Morrison Natural History Museum. It's a very small museum but SOOO cool, and just the right size and activities for our little people.  Their claims to fame are the first stegasaurous and apatasaurous fossil finds, as well as some baby dinosaur foot prints.

The lower level has some casts of different predator skulls and an apatasaurous neck - the skull is still being removed from sandstone. The upper level has some triceratops fossils, some live animals, and a room with ongoing excavation work.  We were lucky enough to arrive close to feeding time for the animals. The kids got to pet this snake before her snack.  I think she got fed 8 mice!

The small size was again to our advantage, because everyone that wanted had a turn running the tools on the apatasaurous skull removal!  We did not get to take a crack at the baby stegasaurous pelvis, because it was too small and fragile, and is the only known fossil of its kind in existence. Picky picky.

Outside, we could 'dig for fossils' in their big sandbox.  Katie found a deer jaw, and Max 'discovered' the fossil of some kind of sea creature. Summer had a good time burying the other shovels and disrupting Alex's sense of order in the universe.

Inside a small outbuilding there was another 'fossil dig' sandbox where everyone could practice their finer excavation skills with paint brushes.  Oddly enough, Alex lasted longer than anyone else on that one. Everyone also painted some dinosaur tracks. Don't ask me where they are now!  That mystery remains for another days excavation project.  Violet showed the most concentration - she was so intent with her painting.

Maybe next time we'll make it up to Dinosaur Ridge - a trail just outside of the museum where there are still plenty of fossils in situ. That might need to go on the summer time adventures list.