Jurassic Adventure

While we were on our visit to the States Venus had sent me a photograph of a dinosaur exhibition going on in Taichung.  I hoped that it would still be here when we returned.  After a few days of being stuck inside and trying to recover from our jet lag the Tiny American and I made a plan to visit the exhibit.  The day of our scheduled visit we woke up to rain.  Since we walk almost everywhere we go, this was a problem.   We waited it out for awhile, with only about a thousand questions about when we were going to see the dinosaurs.  Note to self....do not inform the Tiny American of the plan until we are actually walking out the door!

The rain finally stopped and the sun tried to peak through so we headed out.  In Taiwan we are in what is technically their winter. It is a tropical island so that means it isn't really THAT cold.  It was cooler than normal this day so I did dress Z accordingly, he had on a light sweatshirt and jeans and I packed his jacket in the stroller.  Our destination was about a mile maybe a mile and a half from our front door.  We made it almost all the way there before the sky opened up once again.  I have learned from my time here to never leave the house without an umbrella so I pulled it out and we walked quickly to the nearest building which happened to house a Toys R Us.

After wandering the aisles of the toy store and trying out all the cars and scooters we decided to see if the rain had passed.  It had indeed blown over and so we walked the last little bit of our journey and arrived at the Taichung Jurassic Exhibition.  He could see the largest dinosaur over the fence and could hear the rest, needless to say his excitement was evident when he ROARED back at them!  Taiwanese kids are as a rule pretty quiet....the Tiny American is not!

We paid our $250 nt ( about $8 US) and went in.  Im not sure what I expected but I was pleasantly surprised. There was lots of space for Z to wander around.  Some of the dinosaurs you could go up and touch others you could not, but the paths were clearly marked and he had a great time exploring.  The dinosaurs were animated as well as making sounds.  The news had suggested that small children might be afraid, some of the exhibits were of one dino eating a smaller one.  And there were a couple of fight scenes, but it didn't seem to phase him.

I convinced him to climb inside the Dinosaur mouth for a photo op!  He even gave me the surprised look!!  The Taiwanese love a good photo op, most of the people participating in this activity were adults, not the kids.  It's funny how things like that are just a cultural thing.

So we hung out for awhile  before it started sprinkling again and then I started to load Z up to start our walk home.  A lady that had been watching us fairly closely while we were there shuffled over to me and gave me a disposable rain poncho for Z.  I guess I failed yet again as a parent in the eyes of the locals....oh well!  I just said thank you and we headed out.

It's funny because in the States we might talk about what another mother is doing or not doing and most likely not do anything about it unless a child is being harmed.  Here they have no reservations about pointing out that I should have him dressed differently, warmer, cooler, or that he should wear a raincoat.  I just nod and go on...he doesn't even own a puffy coat.

The Dinosaurs were a big hit!  Jetlag is finally gone and we are back in a normal routine.  Life is good.

Notice everyone but the Tiny American is wearing a puffy coat!