Thursday, March 10, 2011

A dinosaur named Sue

Santa Claus brought the boys dinosaur bones encased in clay. Lucas received this last Christmas as well and the boys really enjoy the excavation. Except for the massive amount of dust and mess it makes, I also enjoy the relative peace I get when my budding paleontologists are at work. Lucas has decided that once they have completed their digs they will watch Jurassic Park. In the meantime, I took them to the Museum of Natural History in Halifax to see Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex. Sue (named for the woman who discovered the bones while waiting beside her broken down car), is the most complete T. rex skeleton discovered so far. The exhibit was very good, on loan from somewhere in the states (I'll update the post when I figure out where she is from). The rest of the museum was somewhat lacking, at least in our expectations after being regulars at the Natural History Museum in Geneva. I really hope there are some really great exhibits on hiatus during Sue's visit, because what is there right now does not even come close to justifying the entrance fee (Geneva's was free...). The basement was a bit of a treasure though, as there were a bunch of amphibians and reptiles in aquariums. David was quite taken with the bullfrogs.

Friday, March 4, 2011

A well deserved treat

The second time I have left work early is the second time that I have been stuck in crazy massive traffic. We still managed to make it out to Bayer's Lake to pick up some shirts for Lucas. I hadn't wanted to buy clothes for the kids at the beginning of the season since we would be moving. Lucas has been confined to a couple of shirts since moving to Halifax. I am sure we have more buried in a box or a pile of belongings somewhere.... Coupled with the limited supply was the breakdown of our washing machine last weekend. Time for new clothes indeed.
Lucas spotted the tell-tale signs of fast food restaurants nearby. By the time we were finished shopping, I was rather receptive to the idea. Lucas was pushing for McDonalds, but I knew better. I happened to know that the Burger King was a) within walking distance from where we were, b) had a t.v. showing Treehouse, their favourite, if somewhat juvenile for their age, station and c) there was a playroom. I decided to forgo the struggle with a high chair and plunked David down on the bench for the first time. The boys had a blast burning off much of those excess calories in the play room with some other little kids. Aside from the other tired looking parents of kids in the playroom, the place was deserted. It felt like we were all taking refuge. Letting our kids play and interact with other kids despite the -20 degrees outside.
A rather long and boring for anyone other than his parents movie of David eating his breakfast is here. Anyone interested in what kind of mess a toddler can make of Shreddies can stop by and watch as much or as little as you care too!