Please Pass the Dinosaur Poop

Yesterday, we finally had Andrew's "Friends Birthday Party". Since Andrew is such a museum/science guy, we celebrated his birthday at a local museum. This museum is a hidden jewel here, in Escondido. It is located in a man's garage... but to call it a garage, does not do this place justice. This garage is about 2,000 square feet, climate-controlled, and filled with an amazing collection of fossils, dinosaur eggs, life-size fossil replicas, minerals, and so much more!

The museum owner, Mr. Roynon, is an enthusiastic, knowledgeable tour guide. He owns the entire collection... some of which he's had since he was Andrew's age! The kids were allowed to touch many of the items in the museum, including trilobite fossils, dinosaur eggs, a crocodile skull, and even fossilized dinosaur poop. The tour included a workshop during which the kids got to make their own mineral/fossil display boxes. The kids had a blast!

After the museum, we headed over to McDonald's for Happy Meals, presents, and Giant-Chocolate-Chip-Birthday cookie. Andrew was so happy and was especially pleased that most of his presents were science kits.

Here are some pictures:

The name of the museum...

Andrew ponders this collection of minerals and fossils.

The kids loved being able to hold some of the items.

From this angle, it looks like Simeon is going to get eaten by the Triceratops head... don't worry, he's oky. This head is actually made out of fiberglass, a real head would cost millions of dollars.

I forget what this guy is... an Allosaurus, maybe. These are real fossils.

A Saber-Toothed Tiger (we learned that they are really called saber-toothed cats). Also real fossils... Here Kitty, Kitty...

Real dinosaur eggs... these days, taking these out of the country of origin will get you thrown in some third-world prison.

No... they are not going to hatch.

The highlight of the tour... fossilized dinosaur poop!

Making their own fossil/mineral kits... way cool!

Andrew couldn't wait to add this to his own Bedroom Museum.

Each kid got to take their kit home. Andrew is not in this one... he didn't want to have his picture taken anymore.