Dr. Nicholas- Esteemed Paleontologist

It is safe to say that Nicholas is at the peak of his dinosaur obsession.  He has always liked them and reading about them.  We have plastic dinosaurs strewn about our living room, and Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan are very popular, but a new level of enthusiasm has surged in him as of late.  One evening about a week or so ago, he looked at me teary-eyed.  I asked him what was wrong, thinking something happened at school or that his brother had been mean to him, and he replied, "I wish dinosaurs still existed."  I said, "Aw, I know, Baby.  That would be pretty cool."  He said, "I just wish I could see dinosaurs like Dino Dan (a show where a boy sees dinosaurs all around him and teaches his friends about them)."  For some reason, I find it so completely endearing that he loves dinosaurs.  It's like the ultimate little boy love, something that he will surely outgrow and think is baby-ish in the years to come, and it makes me want to hold onto him and his Little Boyhood for as long as I can.

Well, when I heard a commercial on the radio in the car advertising Discover the Dinosaurs, a touring dinosaur exhibit, I knew we had to go.  I was going to take my son on a gigantic dinosaur adventure. 

We took our very first metro ride on our new metro line into Washington, DC to the convention center followed by a taxi ride (!) to his grandparents' house.  So, metro, dinosaurs, and a taxi ride all in one morning = a lot of excitement.

Before we left I put the event tickets and a metro map in
an envelope addressed to Dr. Nicholas Esteemed Paleontologist.
 

Looking down intently at the on-coming metro train.

We marked our map with the starting point and destination

and read dino books as we rode into town.

There were two exhibits at the actual show: an Ice Age one and the Dinosaurs, of course.
Nick elected to go through the Ice Age exhibit first, to save the dinosaurs (the best) for last.

The American Lion
Now, almost all of the exhibits moved. 
The were essentially robots that moved many body parts and made noise.

The two highlights of the Ice Age exhibit for Nicholas were the Uintatherium and the Woolly Rhinoceros.
In case you didn't know, Nicholas' favorite animal is a rhino.
Random animal choice, but true (ever since he was 2).

When posing, a child hit one of the buttons for the animal next to us
and it was roaring REALLY LOUDLY.  It startled Nick a bit.

Yep, apparently Woolly Rhinos existed.
Who knew?

There were all kinds of interesting facts posted all over the place.

Nick does not like cavemen.
Why?  Because "they hunted and killed animals."
Aw.

Making all the body parts move.

Closed mouth...

now open.

And on to the dinosaurs!

Stegosauruses were apparently not the brightest of the dinosaurs.

 

A lot was made of this theory.

Lots of photo ops

Again, with the poor stegosaurus.

Successful trip, I'd say!