Dinosaur Ridge

Melissa used tripfinder.com to discover that we had a "Dinosaur Ridge" just a few miles for our house. We decided to give it a try- and it turned out great! The forecast called for some rain, but the rain never came. Even though it was a little chilly, the weather and day were actually quite perfect.

The road this ridge is on used to be a very busy street- but about 5 years ago they cut it off to traffic. When Steph and Damien visited us forever ago- right after Ben and I were married- we drove to the part of the mountain that has some dinosaur fossils. I wasn't too impressed, but it's because we didn't drive to the other side of the mountain where the actual dinosaur tracks are. Next time you come in town, we'll have to check it out Steph! (oh, and do you have pictures from when you came? You should post those if you do- April 2005)

After our trip we asked the girls what they liked best. Most of them liked digging for fossils- except Claire who said she liked the snacks best.

It took us about 1 1/2 hours to do the hike. Most of that time was spent taking pictures:

 Above: Tabatha at the tracks

Below: Alicia and Olivia

 Below: Tabatha, Claire, Audra, Alicia, Olivia

 Above: Alica Below: Audra

 Above: Olivia pondering life

Below: Claire and Audra

 Above: Tabatha, Olivia, Alicia

Below: Alicia, Audra

 Above: Alicia, Olivia, Claire, Audra

Below: Camille- Claire thought it was hilarious that Camille put her binkie in the wrong way

 Above: I don't think Tabatha wanted her picture taken

Below: Alicia and Claire. Claire LOVED Alicia- all weekend that's all Claire 

could talk about- Alicia, Alicia, Alicia!

 Above: I love this picture of Alicia!

Below: See Audra at the bottom? You can see how massive the tracks really are on the mountain

 Above: Alicia, Claire, Olivia, Audra, Tabatha

Below: The Marriott's (minus the baby)

 Above: Tabatha, Audra, Olivia, Claire, Alicia

Below: The Hale girls

 Above: Grandma with a few of her granddaughters

Below: Melissa and grandma at the foot step of the brontosaurus (it's really hard to explain)

 Above: Audra, Olivia

Below: Alicia, Audra, and Olivia

(this is where we stopped so I could nurse Camille- she was really getting hungry. It worked out great until the tour bus showed up and 30 people got off the bus and I had to stop the feeding. Camille was not happy about that- but it made for a good laugh)

 Above: Alicia, Audra
Below: Alicia pushing Claire and Olivia after Claire refused to get up and let Olivia sit down first. We all thought it was pretty funny!

Below: Alicia, Audra, Claire, and Olivia digging for fossils

Above: Olivia, Claire, and Alicia at the cool stegosaurus. Don't worry- Claire says it isn't real because his tail isn't moving so the girls are safe.

Overall, a great day! We were all tired- even the girls- by the end!