boys and dinosaurs.

This past weekend we took our boys to DINOSAUR WORLD! 

Camden's sixth birthday fell on Saturday, so we knew it would be the perfect way to celebrate. (We alternate friend parties and family parties every other year, and this is the family year!) We had the BEST time with presents and cake and all things Camden (more on that later), and we had an absolute blast road trippin' to see some dinos.

^Still cute, even when sporting his bandaid from splitting his lip open on a slide and getting stitches earlier that week.^

Dinosaur World is only about an hour drive south for us (in Cave City), and the boys have asked us to bring them here every time we've passed it on the freeway for the past three years. So we figured it was high time we made it happen!

I'll be honest, I was skeptical.

But it was actually pretty perfect for our boys. They had the time of their lives, and we loved watching their eyes light up at each new dinosaur discovery.

When we paid to go in, the employees immediately gave Camden a dinosaur toy when they found out it was his birthday. He was over the moon about it. He felt so special!

 

We started our time in "Jurassic Park" (as Cam called it the entire time we were there haha) by going on a dinosaur walk! There were all sorts of giant dinosaurs in the trees, and we trekked along the path to find them. The boys were seriously in heaven.

^I'm obsessed with this little troop of boys^

^Cannot handle Brighton's pose in this. Seriously DYING.^

Boston and Camden were freaking out the entire time. Boston would say "Cam! Do you know what this one is??" (and rattle off some crazy long dinosaur name) and Cam would say "Yeah!! That's the meat-eater I was telling you about!"

Haha. Brothers are pretty cute.

^so excited he doesn't know what to do^

^"Mom! Look at my scary dinosaur face!"^

^no one I'd rather be on a dinosaur walk with. Ha!^

^I can almost hear the Jurassic Park theme song in this one haha^

The kids were so excited when they saw a sign pointing to a trail that said "Mammoth Garden". They high-tailed it as fast as they could to get a look at the Woolly Mammoths.

They LIVE for this kind of adventure, and I love it.

^Also that Kentucky green!! So gorgeous^

^It was harder than you think to get all four kids on there at the same time. Haha^

^sweetest boy, holding a mammoth trunk^

^Love this birthday boy!^

^monkey joe^

^Still can't believe he is SIX^

Then they saw a sign pointing the way to the giant T-Rex, so obviously they booked it there next!

(It's hard to keep up with them.)

^they left us in the dust^

^I think he was a little scared of that big dinosaur^

^Love this Brighton boy SO much!^

Then we wandered through some more dino's on our way back to do the fossil dig!

When Boston saw the Spinosauraus (his favorite ever), I thought he might cry. He was so happy. I asked him how he felt and he did the "mind blown" gesture...which you can see in the pic below. Haha! He is such a nut.

The boys' dreams all came true when they got to do the fossil dig AND pick three artifacts out of the sand to keep in a special little bag. They concentrated so hard to find the very best dinosaur teeth for their collections.

Well, the older three did. Brighton just mostly wanted to eat the sand or dump it on his brothers.

^treasures^

^1, 2, 3, 4. (I'm always counting them)^

Then we went over to the awesome dinosaur play area!

The kids loved this, and they probably could have stayed here for hours if we'd have let them. It was really cool. (And not crowded! Which made it even cooler in my book.)

^DINO-HOLLAND.^

I snapped these next couple of photos of Holland and immediately wanted to eat his face. 

JUST LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!

(and his eyelashes are just unfair)

We made one last stop at "The Boneyard" so the kids could pretend to be paleontologists for a second before we headed out. 

They thought it was so cool that they got to uncover a dinosaur fossil! Jord and I thought it was cool that we got to sit down for a minute. (Are we old? I think we're old.)

^Brights wasn't too sure, and mostly stayed by the side. haha^

^RAWR!^

By that point we were all STARVING, so we loaded up and headed to a nearby BBQ joint with great reviews (Bucky Bees BBQ!).

Most of the food was okay, but the giant loaded baked potato was AMAZING. I would 10/10 recommend that potato!!!!

^THEE potato. Topped with pulled pork, bacon, butter, sour cream, and cheese. YUM!^

^I think the potato was bigger than Brighton^

^I am really lucky.^

The boys' favorite part was that they could write all over the windows with markers.
They were all about that!!

We made one last stop on our way out of Cave City for the birthday boy.
He had seen this haunted house on a hill near Dinosaur World, and BEGGED us to take him through it. Nevermind that it wasn't open...or only for adults...he begged and pleaded. Haha.

The boy LOVES scary stuff.

He was super bummed when he found out he couldn't go in, so we compromised, and I walked him up to the gate so he could see it good and close. He loved it.

^Day made^

We had such fun day!!

It was the perfect road trip to take on Cam's birthday, and still be able to make it home for cake and ice cream. (I'll post about Cam's cake and presents, next!!)

Thanks, Dinosaur World. You were good to us.