So I have to start this with Gilli's obsession with Jurassic Park at the age of 2! She LOVED dinosaurs! I would bet that we watched the movie at least once a week and I'm almost positive that she watched it everytime she visited Papa and Tawna too. We were living in Colorado at the time and Woodland Park had opened up a Dinosaur Museum. It opened right around her 3rd birthday, so that's where we went to celebrate. She was ecstatic! It wasn't until we pulled in the parking lot and she asked if we'd get to feed them, that I realized that she had no idea that dinosaurs are extinct! She thought we were going to a dinosaur zoo, or somewhere like Jurassic Park even! Poor thing. I had to explain to her the definition of extinct, and that they once lived, but not anymore. Of course that brought on more tears. Those ones were of course no longer because "we lied to her" but out of sadness that all the dinosaurs are dead. It took us quite a while to get her calmed down, but once we did, she was very anxious to go inside and learn about them and see REAL bones! She has been facinated with dinosaurs ever since and we have taken her to multiple dinosaur museums.
Here we go again...
Bowen LOVES Jurassic Park! We put it on during our last ice storm a couple weeks ago and it definitely caught his interest. It wasn't until Sunday morning when I told him to go pick out a movie, that I knew what we were in for! Low and behold, he starts growling and pointing at Jurassic Park. It was just too cute! He got out all of his dinosaur figurines that he got for Christmas and cuddled up on his Lightning McQueen couch and watched the entire movie...start to finish!
I guess I'm not surprised. But I have to say I was surprised when I realized just how young Gilli was when all this happened. I'm dreading the "extinct" talk with him, but at least I will be prepared for it this time. Not to mention it will expand his vocabulary...as it did Gilli's. He will try to find all kinds of reasons to use the word, just as Gilli did. "Look mom, I extincted that bug!"
(Top picture of Gary and Gilli at the museum in Woodland Park, CO August 2004. Middle ones of Gilli, and then Gary, Bowen and Gilli at a museum in Thermopolis, WY February 2008. I will add one later of Bowen watching the movie...)
