Update

Wow. I haven't posted in forever. Sorry about that. Twas the season for sickness and general blahs where I live.

This weekend, my family celebrated the return of the sun by gardening Saturday and hitting the road on Sunday. Our destination? Dinosaur World!

Using nothing but my wits, a printer and an Internet connection, I discovered a coupon on their site for free children's gift with a purchased children's ticket. So, with the touch of a button and the whirl of a printer cartridge, I turned into SuperMom, Finder of Free Dinosaur!

Dinosaur World, for those of you who might have missed this wonder, is a place with big plaster of Paris, (or some such durable substance), Dinosaurs. There is no effort to do real sizes, though there did seem to be some ratio of size among the dinosaur statutes, i.e., the little dinosaurs were smaller than the bigger dinosaurs and it could've been proportionate. But who knows? Who cares? This is roadside kitsch with a twist of education. And my Little Bit thought it was better than a Peanut Butter sandwich.

And here's the moral of the story: In your Big Dreams for your family - trip to Disney, visit Europe, pay for college - it's easy to overlook the little, nearby, cheap joys your children will love and remember years from now. It may look like old, badly painted crap to you, but it's a wonder world to them. And if it's Dinosaur World, it has just enough scare to really thrill a preschooler.