our noble past

what trip to oklahoma would be complete without a visit to the sam noble museum of natural history to learn more about the sooner state's rich carboniferous past? as soon as the kids heard about the museum, (as i'm sure with anyone else) one word came to mind- pentaceratops. there was much speculation as to whether the museum would provide adequate homage to the magnificent cretaceous herbivore, and in this respect, the gallery did not disappoint.

among the museum's more prominent displays was none other than the largest dinosaur skull on record, belonging to a pentaceratops whose entire fossilized skeleton stood assembled at the entrance to the dinosaur exhibit. the massive dino-dome stood over ten feet tall, and served as an impressive reminder to all that dinosaurs were freakin' big. in addition to being the most educational activity of the trip, the museum outing was also the only three hour period in which we did not eat ribs.

eli poses with another cretaceous favorite, the cranially crested parasaurolophus.

penny holds a real piece of mesozoic history. once she picks up the fossil, there is about a 75% chance she will either break it, or injure someone with it.

all gussied up for the field trip.

digging for fossils. by eli's enthusiasm, i concluded that it must be a lot more fun to dig with a shovel, and throw the debris on the other kids in the sandbox.