Dinosaurs at the zoo

We great weather on a weekend, and I was off, so we decided to go to Brookfield Zoo near our house. We are members (thanks Peggy and Ted!), so it makes things slightly cheaper and easier. Plus, they have a new dinosaur exhibit. It sounds a little strange having dinosaurs at a zoo, but they were animals at one time, so why not? The kids, especially our son, were excited. 

You don't have to walk very far in the main gate to realize something is different. See, the lion thinks someone is coming to take over his place.  

Soon, we found tracks, we knew we were heading in the right direction. 

Then, as we entered into the dino zone, we were advised to keep our eyes on the sky, and maybe our mouths closed as we did so. 

That is certainly one way, though maybe not the most humane, to deal with people smoking around you. 

It looks like they might have lost a few people while setting up this exhibit. Dinosaurs are quite savage; let's take a moment to remember those who were lost while setting this up for the public. 

We came upon our first dino shortly after seeing the destroyed trucks. I don't remember what this one was called, I was too busy trying to stay alive. Sure, he may not be that big, but look at those sharp teeth! 

Speaking of teeth. Check this guy's out. We didn't hang out too long, he looked hungry. 

We found a few empty dino egg shells. We didn't see the little baby dinos, though. I hope they haven't crept into some other part of the zoo. A little baby T-Rex could easily take out a baboon. Am I right? 

Many signs reminded us to not be stupid. No matter how intruiged you are, never, ever touch a dino? Why? Well, I think this sign says it all. 

Just as any other part of the zoo, sometimes you run into parts of...well, nature. And that nature that dinos leave behind (ha!) can be a little bigger, and more pungent, than your average animal. But, at least they warn you of that. 

As we left, the the T-Rex sentry was nice enough to say good-bye in his own scary way. 

I must say, the zoo did a good job with this. They made it interesting and fun at the same time. I'm not sure if they did it all themselves, or if some other group did it, but you can tell they had fun with it. Like the signs I showed you, there were little things throughout the exhibit that were fun and cute. 

So, if you are in the Chicago area, or going to be visiting soon, and you or your kids are dinosaur fans, I recommend it. It is set up for kids, but I think it can be fun for anyone. And, no, the zoo didn't tell me to write this, but you knew that already, right?