Jurassic Tech

For weeks, after seeing this poster, I have been telling Miles, "The Dinos. Are coming." The first time, he looked concerned and said, "But I don't like dinos when they bite me..." But upon being reassured that these dinos would not be allowed to bite, he's been looking forward delightedly to Dino Day, which was what we called the Dinosaur Petting Zoo traveling exhibit.

While we were observing Naptime, the other children in Blacksburg (and I'm pretty sure every one of them came) did a scavenger hunt and dig. But we arrived in time for the Dinosaur Petting Zoo portion. Basically, giant puppets, but the puppeteering was so effective you really could forget the puppet aspect and completely buy that this really was a traveling dinosaur show.

There were several varieties. We got photos of a couple:

These guys are from Victoria, Australia, which at the time they were alive was inside the Antarctic circle. So their big eyes are supposedly due to the white, snowy environment.

Check out T-Rex!

This is supposed to be a juvenile.

She roared terrifyingly, but not as often as Adele. Adele just sat on my shoulders and shouted "ROAR! ROAAAAR!" with sheer glee.

Miles did not cry like the boy behind him. But his eyes did get very, very big...

Not only was the puppeteering effective, but the acting by the emcee character was excellent. He really seemed alarmed when she charged the kids!

Miles got to pet a few afterwards...

Afterward: frolic on the lawn!

Adele is also wearing dinosaur babylegs, as well as her first pigtails.

Note Miles' dino sweater. They were pretty pumped about this.

What does Blacksburg have in store for us next??