The Royal Tyrrell museum wash astonishing, both in the exhibits they offered and the presentation of the museum as a whole. Again, we tried to explain as much as possible about the meaning of the museum to the kids and that dinosaurs lived a long time ago and the land was likely very different. In a conversation with Jen, Robin was getting the "before humans" idea, deciding if we lived in the undersea era in Alberta, we would need a house boat. Robin was also allowed Jen's iPhone to take pictures with. The results were interesting:
The main highlights of the museum included the MASSIVE Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil right near the entrance (it was preserved in what looked like a dead throe). Other highlights included one of the first dinosaur fossils showing evidence of feathers, the interactive placement of the fossils with each other to look as if the carnivores were eating the herbivores, and being able to see through the glass into the labs where the actual scientists were cleaning and categorizing fossils. They also had many videos rolling describing everything from fossil formation to roll excavators played. Robin seemed to love it. Olivia, on the other hand, was interested but so tired that she was in a dazed state, wanting to come "up-ee" half the time and wanting me to put her down the other half. I think she did get something out of the museum, but I'm pretty sure her favourite part of the adventure was the slurpee she got. Then again, I think that was Robin's favourite part too. And since it was over 35C, Jen and I didn't mind our ice capps either.
It was likely that very heat that led to the night's crazy storm. Olivia was asleep in the car and Robin went into Yvette's camper to watch a movie. Seeing a little rain coming down, I thought I'd stay under the bug tent and make us some supper. I started to feel pretty invincible to the elements, smug in the protection I was offered in the tent. I could cook supper for my family as a torrential downpour battered the ground just feet away from me. I had bested mother nature. Then reality hit. The rains decided the did not want to stop or slow down, and mother nature called out "Oh, you missed the storms that caused the floods earlier? Here, let me show you what that was all about" as a pool began to form and slowly creep into the bug tent. It was around then I noticed our sleeping tent vestibule had the beginnings of a minor river running through it. About this time, Jen got out of the car with none-too-happy-from-just-waking-up Olivia and rushed to the picnic table under the tent. It was at this point I realized I had forgotten my rain gear in the sleeping tent. While Olivia exclaimed her displeasure about all the water in the air (and being awake in general) I rushed back to our tent. In the vestibule I saw the small river running past our tarps and I started chucking our bags into the tent to avoid the waters, lucky finding and donning my raincoat in the process. The river was stopping and I had to find a digging tool fast. The first and only tool on hand was Gustav's small green plastic trowel which I grabbed and bent down to dig some water diverting trenches. This worked surprisingly well, until all the rain water from my back - which was beading off my raincoat as planned - changed course as I bent over and beelined into my apparently amply accessible bum crack. The shock sent me darting into the vestibule for some protection, where I found Robin's Minnie Mouse umbrella. I went back into the rain, umbrella placed strategically over my but, and dug the rest of the trenches. I finally finished and saved the tent from a soaking, but felt substantially different from the person who had "bested" mother nature, in no small part because I myself was saved by Minnie Mouse. As the rain still hadn't stopped, we all crammed into Yvette's trailer for supper, where my wet behind wiped any thoughts of hubris from my mind. The kids had a great time in the trailer and got to watch movies in the top bunk until the rain stopped and we went to sleep in our thankfully dry tent.
The next day we took it easy, going swimming again just hanging out around the campsite. Although there were still more attractions to see in Drumheller (like the reptile petting zoo Reptile world which we never did visit) it was time for a break. The kids spent time playing with each other and us adults got a break from having to go anywhere. Robin set up a "museum" using our tent vestibule as the exhibition area. We all got tickets. My favourite part was the inside of the tent, which I think was an exhibit you could go into and look at sleeping bags (and ended up being a nest of sorts for Brigitte and Hugo). We would take another visit to the Royal Tyrrell again tomorrow.
On the Thursday before we left we returned to the museum as there was still a lot to do and see. Since the rains made it no longer feel like the surface of the sun on a hot day, we embarked on a hike in the hills near the museum. With the exception of Jen (7 months pregnant) and Olivia (who would last 3 minutes then say "car-ye me!") we made an interesting hike in the unique landscape of the area. Getting to see the heavily eroded hills up close was fascinating. The mud on the hills is composed of the easily washed away bentonite clay, which the kids collected in their hats and called "dinosaur popcorn". Although no fossils were found on the hike, it was nice to be out on a hike and introduce the kids to an alien environment.
Once we headed back, there was a science talk provided by the museum in a mini auditorium on the side of the building. The kids got right into it, with Brigitte answering questions and the others looking entranced (Hugo even made a Hugo-style comment to the instructor about Brigitte answering questions that left him flabbergasted. I wish I could remember what he said - it's hard to replicate Hugo style). Shortly following the presentation, we discovered the public was able to make fossil castings! Each family signed up two kids, but when we got to the door, children 3 and under weren't allowed in, so Olivia and I had to wait. She wasn't that disappointed though. We were going to get her souvenir that she had been waiting ALL WEEK to pick out. In the end, she chose the most delicious souvenir ever. They were gummy. I even got a bite. Thanks Ollie. We met up and found that Jen made a cast of a duck billed dinosaur toe, and Robin made a mastodon tooth.
We took our prizes back to the campsite, we had our last supper together and had a last play around the campground. It was nice when the kids played, as the adults got to sit and talk as children whizzed by, off to play "family" in our van, wander through the bush, or give puppy dog eyes asking when marshmallow time was going to be (or if you were Gustav, you were having fun getting into everything you could). Yvette talked about her plans to move to Bowen Island and shared some wisdom on life with three kids. It was a great moment to connect. On Friday morning we wasted no time packing up for the long trip each of us had ahead of us. Yvette was going south to a Country Festival in Oregon, while we were making the two day trek home.
What a fantastic trip. I hope this was a time the kids will remember and think back on as one of those storied family trips. Really, the dinosaurs in Drumheller and even the splash pad were secondary to getting to spend time with Yvette and her family. I feel lucky to call Yvette a sister, and the kids really had time to connect. Olivia I think had the hardest time of all saying goodbye. She's a tough kid, but when she connects to people she connects hard.
On the way home we stopped at my friend H's (Adrian) house in Brandon. He ended up offering me a teaching position at BU that would have been really good for me career wise. I thought about it pretty hard in the next weeks. The job was a term to start in January, about the same time Jen would go back from mat leave with Blueberry. In the end I decided against it. Right now I'm where I want to be.
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