Dinosaurs at the Zoo? Really?

Because really, first thing I think of when I hear the word 'zoo' is real, live animals. Which is usually the scene at Brookfield Zoo. But now they have this dinosaur exhibit. Animated, well robotic actually, pretty much full scale, real (but not) live (but not) dinosaurs!

From Uncle Bart at the Zoo

Well, for weeks we've been giddy because Uncle Bart was coming for a visit and we haven't seen much of him lately. So even though you'd seen the dinosaurs at the zoo before, we thought it would make for a good afternoon outing. And right we were...

They had some with control panels, so you could articulate necks, lift legs, that kind of thing. Though I shouldn't say 'you', I should say 'other people' because the only thing you were interested in whatsoever was making them roar.

You were *so* excited. By halfway through, if a dinosaur we were walking by wasn't talking, and it had no control panel, you would try bossing it into roaring.

In the picture above, in fact, you are jumping up and down screaming at the top of your lungs - "ROAR, dinosaur, ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!" I think that was the most excited I'd ever seen you. Also, never mind these things looked pretty much exactly as I'd expect a dinosaur to look, and when it came to the carnivores that was pretty downright mean and nasty. I would hope that if you were ever walking down a trail and actually happened upon one of these, your first reaction would be something other than this:

At the end of the dinosaur walk, the trail leads predictably through the middle of the gift shop. And what kind of parents would we be if we didn't get you a little something. So you picked out a dinosaur. His name is Homer. You named him. When he roars, it sounds suspiciously like you.

We also stopped at the Mold-O-Rama, which since long before I was a kid has been pumping out injection molded novelties of any sort. You already have a Mold-O-Rama gorilla, and having just purchased Homer we weren't feeling obligated to go any further. However, with Uncle Bart along with us and an injection molding machine in play, it wasn't so much about getting a plastic dinosaur as it was a discovery in manufacturing processes and an impressive display of hydraulics. Years from now you'll hear about how Uncle Bart and I once spent several hours in San Francisco's Exploratorium, not with children mind you but pretending to be them.

While waiting for the mold to cool, you were concerned that Homer was hungry and that he wouldn't eat a bite of your pretzel. I really love this picture, you are genuinely concerned about Homer and insuring he isn't hungry for the rest of our zoo trip. What a little sweetie...

It was great to see Uncle Bart, although around Mom and I you were insistent that he not be called Uncle Bart. "Uncle Bart isn't really my uncle, he's really just Bart. We heard that over and over! Strange, though, when he was around he was still Uncle Bart. Is that only because he brings you presents?