We headed back to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT to visit the Museum of Ancient Life and the Museum of Natural Curiosity. You could probably guess one was all about dinosaurs and one was designed to entertain kids or maybe they were both for kids. I enjoyed them both.
At the entrance to the Museum of Ancient Life, we found this little placard. It grabbed our attention and made our visit a little more fun. "It's not easy to see 'em" was a huge understatement. We were more than halfway through before we overheard someone who had found one.
This big boy was about 3 feet from nose to tip of his tail. He was unidentified (I'm guessing green or common iguana) and the only live specimen (other than a few little fish) in the museum.
Eryops (Permian - 250 million years ago) Swamp dwellers
David thinks they must be the ancestors of the R.O.U.S. (any Princess Bride fans?)
Supersaurus ("super lizard") Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous (about 144 million years ago)
Tyrannosaurus Rex ("tyrant lizard king") Late Cretaceous (about 65 million years ago)
Can you find the first gnome? He is only about 3 inches tall.
We didn't see him either until someone squealed and pointed.
Amber (fossilized resin) is easy to fake, but real amber gives off a burning pine odor when ignited. It also floats in salt water (hard plastic does not).
Gnome number two was watching over the amber display.
Xiphactinus audax - Late Cretaceous (about 70 million years ago)
15 to 20 feet long - what a beauty!
Gnome number three was hiding in the shadows.
David spotted this one.
Mammuthus (AKA - "Woolly mammoths") Late Pleistocene (about 12,500 years ago - became extinct just a few thousand years ago)
About to be crushed under the mastodon's knee - rough way to go.
Aepyornis Maximus - "Elephant Bird" - Holocene (about 700 years ago) - extinct just over 300 years ago.
Ten feet tall - weighed over 1000 pounds. Their eggs were as large as three feet in circumference - Yikes!
Starting back at the beginning to see if we could spot a few more gnomes, we noticed his big guy had moved. Looks like he is smiling.
David found gnome number 4 in the archaeology room perched high.
The kid behind the front desk wouldn't tell us where the gnomes could be found, but he gave us a T-Rex hint, so we headed back for another look...
...Hello! Gnome number 5 and the last one we found. We'll have to come back someday to find the other eight!
We spent more time than we had planned searching for gnomes finally giving up when hunger got the best of us. After a quick lunch, we headed to our second museum for the day - The Museum of Natural Curiosity. In retrospect, going on a Saturday might not have been the best idea. The place was crawling with kids - go figure!
This was the best kid-oriented museum we have ever visited. Hands-on exhibits and people watching made for a very entertaining afternoon.
She was thrilled when I took her picture. She stayed there for almost 5 minutes.
The museum continued outside and was part of a large water park and playground complex.
Ok, both of those museums look awesome. I love the idea of a gnome hunt!
ReplyDelete