Tag Archives: dinosaur

Dinosaur Dig Dessert

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This post is long overdue! Last summer while crafting my boy’s’ joint 3rd and 4th “Dinosaur Dig” birthday party, I had so much fun planning decor and activities…and I also managed to find inspiration and create a themed dessert that looked like dinosaurs in the dirt! You can browse around this site for more ideas.

It was super easy to do and tasted pretty good as well, although I do think some of the preschool crowd was a bit skeptical until they discovered what was inside!

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At any rate, it was super easy to do and here’s what you’ll need:

Chocolate pudding – I bought a couple packs of the 12-cup Snack Pack pudding

Oreo Cookies – generic chocolate creme cookies work too!

Dinosaur Gummies – I had to hunt around for these and ended up ordering (more than I needed) on Amazon.

Once I had all my ingredients, it was easy to assemble day of the party – my baby sister and sister-in-law assisted! We emptied out about half of the pudding from each cup into a clear cup – so if you buy a 12-pack, you can actually get 24 treats out of it, then added a layer of crushed cookies (do this ahead of time), I simply took a handful of cookies and put into a zipped plastic bag and crushed them up! Then, for the final touch, add a few dinosaur gummies to the top…honestly, 2 is good, 3 is plenty. And, that’s it, ready to serve! RAWR!!

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Dino Dig Party Theme

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Rawr! This past weekend we celebrated the 3rd and 4th birthdays of my (53 weeks apart) baby boys..except I’m realizing they really aren’t “babies” anymore. For their joint celebration this year I chose to do a “Dino Dig” aka dinosaur themed backyard soiree, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. We got lots of compliments on a “fun” party…and that’s the most important component to any event, right!?!? FUN!!

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I probably get a little obsessive in my planning process trying to make everything theme related and scouring the internet for ideas and decor to pull off a great event. I had multiple banners and even re-named my boys to give them dino-riffic names! I found a free printable HBD dinosaur banner, and dinosaur print letters that I used for the banners with their dinosaur names.

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I purchased a nice dinosaur centerpiece with cone holders which I filled with kid-friendly Veggie Sticks and Pretzels.

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In the backyard, we had a bounce house with a dinosaur panel in front, the kids LOVE to bounce!

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A bubble station was also set up, where we had a bubble machine going and an assortment of bubble wands.

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We created a “Dino Dig” site, using an inflatable kiddie pool, filled with sand and hidden “dino eggs” that I purchased online. We wrapped the area with dino dig “caution” tape. I also purchased mini buckets and tools for them to excavate the eggs, and I got enough so that they could take those home too.

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Inside I set up a “photo booth,” using a couple big, jointed, dinosaurs on the wall and a HUGE blow up T-Rex too – the kids loved it, they were all over it..I can’t believe it survived the party! I also got an assortment of dinosaur masks for them to wear for the photo opp!

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When it came to the sweets and dessert, I went with cupcakes (store bought), but I used my own sprinkles that were actually mini-dinosaurs. We also created Dino Dig dessert cups that were made up of chocolate pudding, crushed oreos and gummy dinosaurs on top! Dinosaur lollipops and a plate full of mini-dino cookies I ordered on Etsy, helped make the table look extra festive!

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We had a dinosaur pinata and played Pin the Head on the Dinosaur…

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As our thank you gift I put together goodie bags with dino stickers, tattoos, a dino ring pop, bubbles, dino plane and a puzzle. Lots of fun stuff!

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All in all, we couldn’t be happier with the party and how it all came together! It was so much fun and at the end of the day, I had 2 very happy dinosaurs!

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SoCal Stop: Dinosaurs in the Desert

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Along I-10 in Southern California, you can find dinosaurs in the desert in between the palm trees. I heard about the spot in Cabazon from a friend when I mentioned I’d be driving from Ontario to Indio. I inquired if there were any good spots for kids and this “pit stop” was mentioned…

Okay, so when I say pit stop, that’s literally what it is…an exit with a gas station, a Burger King and dinosaurs. Coming from Ontario it was just one exit past the Desert Hills Outlets (where I’ve heard there’s great shopping) and the Morongo Casino.

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If you ever watched Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and you can recall a dinosaur scene…this is them! And, these Cabazon Dinosaurs are a couple of giant concrete dinosaurs that stick out in the desert landscape.

It’s not a stop you need to make lots of time for…we literally snapped some photos from the Burger King parking lot. Although, my 2-year old kept asking me how we could get up there! Nonetheless, if you ever pass through the area, it’s worth it to stop and snap a pic or two with Dinny the Dinosaur, a larger-than-life-sized Brontosaurus and a 100-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex named Mr. Rex. I promise it’s kind of DINO-mite! 😉

Dinosaur selfie in #Cabazon #dinosaur #familytravel #raefthomas #isaiahjoaquin #funnyfaces

A photo posted by Aubrey Aquino (@fifty3weeks) on

BTW…my kids are only casual dinosaur fans, we went to the Discover the Dinosaurs exhibit a few months back…but the Cabazon Dinos definitely caught their attention and it’s FREE!!

Discover the Dinosaurs

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We did a Sunday Funday outing to “Discover the Dinosaurs.” It’s a traveling exhibit and we had the opportunity to catch it during its 2016 San Jose stop. My boys aren’t super into the prehistoric animals, but besides the actual dinos on display, there were also activities to engage the kids, so we checked it out.

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We went first thing in the morning when they opened and on the way to the convention center we did our best to get the boys excited about seeing the dinosaurs. It was great when we walked in and they didn’t immediately get scared.

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The dinosaurs on display are pretty big and make “life-like” movements. I don’t think they are life-size, but to a 3-footer toddler, I’m sure they come across larger than life. We enjoyed looking at them and reading the different names and teaching those terms to the boys, very educational. This part doesn’t really take too much time, you can do it in 30 minutes give or take, depending on how much or how little time you spend looking at the creatures.

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Then they had a few dino rides. My older toddler wasn’t interested, but my 2-year old chose to take his turn riding the Triceratops! Right after that they had sandboxes set up where kids could brush away the sand and discover fossils. This was cool for maybe 5-10 minutes, but the big attraction for my kids was the inflatables area.

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My boys are big on the bouncies and this is where we spent most of our time. They had a pretty good variety of bouncy houses with slides, big bounce areas and obstacles for both smaller and bigger kids.

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Other attraction were a mini-golf set up, coloring area and a “mining” area, with the latter requiring an additional charge to the admission.

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Overall, it was a fun outing, in total we spent less than 2 hours there total. I’d say this exhibit is best for kids ages 3-7, and/or babes who LOVE dinosaurs. If you think the dinos may come across scary, that wasn’t an issue with us, but I did see at least one kid hesitate to do a dinosaur ride. The cost of admission may be a bit steep, a family of four is about $100, not sure if price is dependent on location.