I was afraid that he thought that he'd see actual dinosaurs, and I kept preparing him that we were only going to see "bones"...but he didn't seem to mind. And he wasn't one bit disappointed. The museum has done a wonderful job with restoring the dinos and making the new area really cool.
Here is he with my dad posing in front of the very imposing T.Rex. Noah thinks that it is awesome that my dad's name is Rex...lately instead of referring to him as Pa, he calls him "T. Rex"! We all agreed though, that back in the day when the T. Rex was standing on his hind legs and you could see him from the 2nd story, he seemed to be much bigger. Or maybe that was because we were little kids at the time? (And you can all call that lady that just walked in to my picture a bad name, okay?)
Anyway, Noah enjoyed the "stuffed" animals part just as much as the dinosaur part. And of course, he can name even the most obscure of animals. He called my dad over to a "rhinocerous hornbill" -- it's a bird -- we saw one at the aviary and it's been a favorite of theirs ever since. (And for those of you that have been to the Carnegie Museum, remember that scene with the guy on the camel and the saber toothed tiger is attacking them? It's still cool 30 years later!)
They also have a new section where little kids can "dig" for dinosaurs. Here's Noah digging away. HE didn't want to leave because he hadn't dug up his bone yet! All in all, it was a great day. I think Noah really enjoyed himself.