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Dinosaur Excavation - Ranger Dad Shows Petroglyphs

July 2000

Terri in Del Rio, Tx , Val Verde County

Special Mention

We just returned from vacation at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.   A great place to go. 

So now that my children are heavily into dinos so we are having a dino party for my soon to be four year old boy.  I will start with upside down balloons with a dino face drawn on them and chalk dino tracks up my driveway and sidewalk as shown in Family Fun's latest birthday issue. 

I like to have an art project for when the kids arrive so dino stamps on goodie bags will do for that.  Oriental Trading company has lots of dino novelties.  Then in our play area in the back yard I will have out all of our plastic dinos, rocks, tree's, etc.  The kids will have free play with them while waiting for everyone to arrive.  

Once the group has arrived my husband, dressed as a ranger, will take the kids on a nature hike around the yard.  One spot of interest will be Petroglyphs or cave drawing to you and me.  (A sheet of newsprint with cave drawings started taped to a wall of the house)  I will have water colors set out for the kids to try their own drawings.  The hike will continue to a "quarry" where the kids can dig for fossils. 

Turkey bones, chicken bones, shells, etc. mixed into two cups sand, one cup corn starch and one and a half cups water.  Heat the mixture until warm on stove top and form around fossils.  As the mixture sets it hardens.  Recipe thanks to "The Kids' Pick-a-Party Book".  When most of the fossils have been found the hike will continue inside the house and end up at the table. 

I stamp newsprint or poster paper at all my parties of an image that goes with the theme and set out crayons to fill the time while you wait to sing and waiting to be served.  It looks like a giant coloring book.  This party will be dino, cloud, and desert landscape stamps.  I also like to put pretzels, M&M's  and this time dino shaped cookies from the "Mother" brand mixed in green shredded paper(sold in gift wrap sections) as a center piece and let the kids nibble on it while coloring. They stay quiet and busy.  

The cakes will be a dino shape of vanilla and a volcano of chocolate.  I am stamping my own invitations this year, bottom dino card of "DOTS" new catalogue page 91.  And I like to use plain paper goods to go with my stamped images.  Greens, naturals and browns, grays and blacks will be the color theme. 

I hope the party will be dino-mite!! My friends say I spend a little more money than I should and little more time than they would but my feeling is the party I give is the birthday gift.  You could ask my kids what gift or toy they got two years ago and they could not remember but if you asked about their birthday party they could tell you every detail. 

I give them the gift of memories.  I say go all out because your birthday only comes once a year!!

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