Dino Park or Great Scott We Finally Made It!

Alas, a wonderful day came on Tuesday that was cloudy and perfect to spend a couple of hours in Bastrop, at The Dinosaur Park. I know it sounds odd that a cloudy day would be a perfect day, but with it being the norm this summer for the temperatures to hang out nicely above 100, clouds make it less burdensome. It was a 30 minute drive for us, but with the back seat full of books, the kids didn't really notice. Sneaky. I know.

When I pull into the driveway for the dinosaur park there were three small PrimeRose buses, which is a daycare out here. I was a little bummed, but then I noticed that they must have all come about 15 minutes apart because they were separated pretty well in small groups. Not too bad. The first place you walk in is the gift shop, which of course is bursting with dinosaurs in every corner. I about lost it. It was incredible. I might have to remember this place for Christmas presents for little man. Devon had to drag me past all the shelves of dinosaurs so we could pay to get into the park.

The park really consists of two parts. One is a 1/2 mile trail where you see the dinosaur sculptures and the other has a playground, picnic tables and a dino-dig area to dig for dinosaur "fossils." When we headed over to the trail to start the tour, we had a clipboard with scavenger hunt clues. I wasn't sure if Devon would get what a scavenger hunt was, but of course she found everything but one, and I couldn't even find it. It just gives us a reason to go back another day.

So here are the pictures I know you are dying to see. :)

Here are the kids with a Stegoceras. Once Matthew saw this he started squealing "di-di!" Too cute! And then as we walked on he was eagerly looking around the woods for more "di-di's." It really is a great place, as you walk through the trails it gives you the feeling of being on a dinosaur safari.

This is the kids with one of the most recognizable dinosaurs, the Triceratops. These statues are built to scale, so seeing just how big these creatures were is incredible. Or I'm just a big dino-dork.


Along the trail there were a couple of statues for photo opportunities and interaction. This is the kids with a baby Apatosaurus. After playing with this dinosaur Matthew didn't want to keep going. He wanted to stay and play with it. It took a little convincing, but finally I said "I see more dinosaurs" and he got back in. :) More sneakiness. I should write a book called, The Sneaky Mom.
Here are the kids with my personal childhood favorite, the Stegosaurus. It was huge!

I know the kids aren't in this picture, but you can't ignore the T-Rex. He is actually placed along the trail to where you go around a corner and BAM! there is a T-Rex. Very clever Dinosaur Park.
After the T-Rex, was its' nest with a baby T-Rex. The kids loved climbing all over it.


After finishing the trail, we had some lunch and the kids played on the playground and in the dig pit. But before we left, because dark rain clouds were headed our way, I snagged some pictures of the kids playing with this random T-Rex head. It thought it was awesome that there was a place in the back to climb in the mouth. Super funny.

Overall, this is a really neat park. If we are ever to win the lottery I would donate lots of money to this park. This is the only dinosaur park I have ever heard of. Oh and I forgot to mention most of the dinosaurs at the park, have been found in Texas. I thought that was cool. Of course I didn't show them all. I wouldn't want to spoil all the fun.